Eskiimo

I usually try to avoid overdoing it with backstory, but Dear Eskiimo [ed. note: It’s now just Eskiimo; check out the comments] has proven to be so confounding that a little context feels appropriate, if only to relieve the mystery in my own mind. About three months ago we got a link in our suggestion box to an entertaining pop mini-mix that merged the mixers’ own tracks with showtunes, Depeche Mode, Gwen Stefani, PiL, Eminem, and more. Eskiimo’s original music was intriguing, if truncated, so I emailed them to solicit more music with which to share the sharing. We exchanged a couple of semi-cryptic messages and I waited for MP3s that never came. So…I go searching the other day and am reminded of Eskiimo, whose MySpace page now features two downloadable tracks. The group counts Gorillaz, Eels, and The Dresden Dolls among its friends on MySpace and it has major press representation, slick photos, and an attractive lead singer. They were apparently on Mercury Records UK when they released their EP last year and now, with a full-length debut on the way, the Dear Eskiimo website redirects to Universal Music UK…where there is no information on the band. Long story short: Dear Eskiimo appears to be a relatively unknown UK pop group that has everything going for it—major label support, cool “friends,” and solid representation. [Read the comments for a demystifying explanation of what’s going on with Eskiimo]

Oh yeah, and talent. Lead singer Katie lists among her musical tastes “good, un-crap pop music,” which is a great way to describe Dear Eskiimo, too. The trio make pop music that doesn’t hide its radio ambitions, but they don’t suffer terribly for it. Dear Eskiimo are quite unlike what we’ve been trained to expect from Manchester over the years, which makes them sort of mainstream outcasts. They merge well with Annie, Scissor Sisters, Zero 7, and other groups you’ll hear at hip clothing stores. And the mix of organic melodies and canned beats might bring back fond memories of, um, George Michael’s “Freedom ’90” and “Faith.” (Let the hater-mail commence.) “Pretty” is a chirpy number about…abusive relationships. The whimsical “Patience” sounds Broadway all the way—I have the sneaking feeling it’s a cover that I just can’t place. In fact, I have the sneaking feeling that Dear Eskiimo may just be “undiscovered” to me and that I’ll get plenty of emails from those in the UK who have been listening to them on the radio for a while now. Oh well. Whether they’re stars or a secret, Dear Eskiimo’s pop music sounds pretty un-crap to me.


www.eskiimo.com
www.myspace.com/deareskiimo

5 Replies to “Eskiimo”

  1. i thought i should update you on the dear eskiimo front……..they are now just called eskiimo. they are also unsigned, due to the classic scenario of the guy that signed them getting fired last year. when the new guy came in, he got rid of the old guy's bands. the band were half-way through recording their album when they got the call (some of the tracks are on the myspace site).
    not to be outdone, the band are currently finishing the album themselves and plan to release it independently, through their own label, early next year. they have also just shot a video for the first single, 'jack and jill', which will be released in a couple of months time.
    tav (a friend of eskiimo).

  2. Love the song to death, but I'd been trying to figure out that "patience" on my mp3 player was for forever. Finally figured out it was Eskiimo using an aggregator.
    Thought it was from High School Musical for the longest time. Now I know.

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