I hit shuffle on the new music Spotify playlist yesterday when I was on the hunt for some Fresh Juice. After skipping a few songs, I stumbled upon the transcendent new single from KIAN, ‘Childism’. At first, I thought: “Wow, this new Khalid song is so much better than his other stuff.” But I was pleasantly surprised when I realised it was Australia’s great white hope from Castlemaine.
After uploading his debut track ‘Waiting’ to triple j Unearthed last year, the 16-YEAR-FUCKING-OLD took out triple j’s 2018 Unearthed High. It catapulted the song to its current standing of 24 MILLION FUCKING STREAMS. For reference, I am older than 16 and have zero streams. My mum thinks I’m handsome though, so who’s the real winner, huh?
Anyway, ‘Childism’ explores KIAN’s position as a teen whose voice is often dismissed due to his age. It’s a considerable step-up from the straight-forward acoustic-pop of ‘Waiting’. KIAN and producer Jerome Farah drop in on the smooth RnB wave that nobody’s nailed in Australia yet. Though that’s obviously about to change with KIAN striking the vibe. As mentioned earlier, KIAN’s buttery voice sounds a lot like Khalid. But the huge comparisons aren’t stopping there – ‘Childism’ is the Australian version of Frank Ocean’s ‘Biking’. KIAN emulates Frank’s half-rap/half-croon style to a tee, with the gentle acoustic guitar strumming only adding to the similarities. You know a Frank comparison can only be a good thing.
‘Childism’ is available through Represent Records. Listen to it below.