Live Act

KIAN

Kian’s music captures what it feels like to be young, to be vulnerable and to be in touch with your emotions. And at just 17-years-old, that sincerity has already seen him connect with millions of listeners.

After growing up in the small Victorian town of Castlemaine, Kian stepped into the limelight in 2018 when he won the triple j Unearthed High competition – a feat he achieved with a song written when he was only 14. That track, ‘Waiting’, quickly became an incredible success: it was the most played local song on Australian radio for the first half of 2019, going double platinum, amassing over 50 million streams on Spotify and earning both APRA nods and an ARIA Awards nomination for Song of the Year. Next came the Bliss EP, performances at both Laneway Festival and Splendour in the Grass, as well as a global deal with Republic Records.

Now, after spending a year travelling around the world writing and working with new collaborators, Kian is stepping into a new chapter. It’s been a coming-of-age for an artist who, on the cusp of adulthood, is surer of himself and his sound than ever before. “I’ve definitely learned and grown a lot,” he says. “That’s what this new music is going to reflect.”

The first taste of Kian’s new era is the triumphant ‘Every Hour’, a heart-swelling song about love, connection and the feeling of wanting to waste “every day and every hour” with someone. As he says, “It’s all about love and the complexities that come with it but also happiness, growth and creating new memories together.”

Kian’s talent is threefold: he is a commanding singer, a poetic songwriter and a musician with a supernatural knack for melody. But all of his music starts with a feeling. “A song can begin with a chord, or a beat. The way that sound makes me feel is where I’ll draw the inspiration to write from,” he explains.

He uses songwriting to get his feelings out and onto paper, tackling everything from love and happiness to deconstructing masculinity in his songs. “I’m not afraid to talk about how I feel, and that shines through in my music and lets me be vulnerable and honest,” he says. “I’ve had some stuff to get off my chest in the past, and forever will probably have stuff to get off my chest”. Bringing it all to life is a multi-dimensional sound that fuses alternative-pop with R&B elements and Kian’s soulful vocals.

For Kian, the end game is to make songs that resonate. “Music has always helped me, so I hope that my music can help anyone else who’s going through stuff of their own,” he says. “If I can help one person out there with my music, then that’s all I want.”