Album Notes

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Kiril Valeri: Behind The Blue

Kiril Valeri is a special talent with a truly extraordinary musical pedigree. It is a pleasure therefore to announce the release of his new CD, entitled Behind The Blue.

Kiril is a native of Sofia, Bulgaria but now calls Vienna home. He is an artist it is genuinely impossible to define, taking in as he does a huge array of influences. A classical upbringing ensures he has an innate gift for technical understanding, while during the 90s he was hypnotised by the likes of George Michael, Sting, George Benson, Moloko, Erykah Badu and Mary J Blige, bringing a smooth and distinct soulfulness to his music. And he is already working on his next project, an album of electro and nu-jazz.

Kiril's songs are personal and deeply moving, thanks largely to his lovely voice, yet he also has a cheeky side. Track one of Behind The Blue, ' Fat Green Bogies', is an amusing dig at all superficiality and snobs in the world, with lines such as "Don't like your fat green bogies/ I don't even think I like anything about you/Please get away with those bogies/Don't wanna spend a minute on a silly snob like you". A song about bogies: surely the first of its kind in the world.

Not that Kiril doesn't take his music seriously. He says of composing: "I think music is a state of temporary feeling, so we try to catch moments within sounds. Therefore, I have been through jazzy periods, soul moods, and been interested in more mainstream, pop ways of thinking.

"I think music is a free language. Maybe the most international language of all, and it is not always possible to stick to the same feelings and moods while creating music."

Kiril began playing piano at age 5. In 1992 he moved to Vienna from Sofia to study at the Prayner Conservatory under the tutelage of Andreas Winternitz and Ines Reiger. He has been a singer, composer and songwriter ever since, and has performed in prestigious venues all over Europe including The State Opera Ball with the Fulvio Bertusso Band, at the Vienna National Opera House – the Austrian equivalent of the Oscars.

Behind The Blue is his second album, and follows his highly successful debut, New Life (2001). The title track from this album reached number one on the internet charts in Germany, organised by Billboard. New Life was mastered by Christian Leitgeb, a producer who has also worked with Scorpions, Cliff Richard and Falco. Such is Kiril's musical standing. His cover of the song Swan Lake was chosen by the AIDS charity as part of its soundtrack to its events in the United States, alongside such names as Heather Small(M People) and Moby.

What's more, videos to his songs 'Killer' and 'Fata Morgana' have been on rotation on Bulgarian TV. This endlessly inventive musician is now working with new producers Rumen Dimitrov and Ivan Ivanov for his next release, due at the end of 2007.

The career of Kiril Valeri is one that is likely to go from strength, and his latest album is one for all lovers of pop with an idiosyncratic edge to it.

Behind The Blue will be available from retail outlets in Austria and Germany from March 31, and online at iTunes, Sony Connect, Napster and Rhapsody. Only one week after the official digital release on iTunes.com the CD "BEHIND THE BLUE" enters the top 10 of the SOUL/FUNK Charts on www.track4.de - one of the most popular German Internet Online Platforms for Independant Music.

For more information visit www.kirilvaleri.com.

KVZ Music