James Kakande

BIOGRAPHY



It has been five years since James Kakande first burst on the international music scene with the gloriously uplifting 'Little Red Bag', a reference to his constant traveling companion across Europe. His is an almost fable-like tale, and the album established him as a major new talent and purveyor of some of the finest soul pop of this generation. Not for nothing did the Trinidad and Tobago football team adopt his song 'You You You' as their anthem to accompany them in the last world cup. It was a hit across much of Europe.



This being said, the public often perceives artists as only existing for singular pieces of music, and although 'You You You' is a tremendous burst of joy bound up in pop hooks so irresistible, it is difficult to remove the song from your memory after only one listen, it is but one facet of a complicated talent. In the time since 'Little Red Bag', James has learnt much of the world, people and this business called show. And therein lies the crux. James has delved deep into his experiences of life, from both an itinerant and home-loving perspective, and whilst he is without doubt a consummate showman, the observations within the songs are deeply introspective and considered. To invoke a former - and occasionally re-emerging creation - the funky clown knows what it means to cry.



The songs contained in 'the Holy Fool' reflect the changes James has undergone, and represent just a part of the overall work he has been generating for the last four years. Wherever he goes, his guitar goes too. It was difficult to choose which songs should make it on to the album, all are his children - and they are many - but the selection presented is a thorough and composite slice of a talent that is, without doubt, prodigious and seemingly endless.



The Holy Fool is someone who cares not for money, but sings to a higher power, a higher ideal and of the glory of the world and his place in it. He is akin to the troubadour and asks only that, for a while at least, you surrender yourself to the intoxication of music and communion with the spirit within you and those of the others who share these sweet, vital sounds with you. Music is as fleeting as life, but it contains moments which we can never forget, and which become part of us. Beauty lies in the ephemeral and the transient, and the Holy Fool knows this. He comes to us with a generous and warm heart and songs that entice and reveal just a little bit more of ourselves than we knew already. This should be the goal of all Art. It is the goal of the Holy Fool.



Dressed by Ben Sherman