2019 saw the creation of the solo project of German alternative rock singer/songwriter Christian Stezycki, known as Carnival Kid. The inspiration behind the name leads back to the German tradition of dubbing those in Germany who are born on the 11th November (the first day of their carnival season), as “Faschingskinder”, which translates to “carnival kids”. And while Christan himself is not a carnival kid officially, but rather his son, he was still inspired by the alias, as a way to represent how the carnival season is a driving force behind how Stezycki writes and creates his music.
Carnival Kid began releasing music in 2019, in which he brought listeners two singles, before ending that year off with his debut EP, titled All the Easy Places, and lastly ending the year off with another duo of singles.
The following year of 2020, despite its circumstances, was no less productive for Carnival Kid. Throughout that year, he blessed us with another seven single releases; a large handful of which make an appearance on his debut album, Ever Present Past.
It is easy to see now, that the whole of the previous year was spent practically building up towards this debut album. Eagerly releasing Ever Present Past in early 2021, Carnival Kid shows that he is ready to hit the ground running this year.
To be exact about the amount of previous tracks that made the cut, in the case of Ever Present Past, we have the latest five 2020 single releases, along with one of the final Carnival Kid tracks of 2019, ‘Three and a Half Minutes”. On top of those, we also have another two completely fresh listens to be found on this debut album.
In the lead-up to the album’s release, Carnival Kid did a great job of giving us many different shades of wholesome, festival-ready, and feel-good anthems. This ranged from the more soothing and downbeat vibe found on “Porcelain”, to the raw and sunny sound of “Complicated”, to the energetic, booming feel of “The Remains”. That being said, when put together on a full project, these tracks allow Ever Present Past to balance versatile elements, and more consistent qualities, rather well.
In fact, this album almost feels like a complete live set in a way; simply due to just how intimate the whole thing is, all the way through to the cherry on the case that was the acoustic sound of the title track, which felt like an excellent way to wind the album down.
We really found ourselves soaking in all of the sounds this project had to offer, and we came away from it feeling the kind of satisfaction one may get after discovering a band live, who they ended up really enjoying. It goes without saying that at times like these, that feeling was sorely missed.
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