Wandering Oak presents Kiiōtō – 2026-04-28 - live in 34 Lime Street Ouseburn Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 2PQ NE1 2PQ , Apr 28, 2026

Alternative

Kiiōtō is the love-child of Lou Rhodes, Mercury-nominated singer/songwriter and founder member of Lamb, and multi-platinum songwriter and keyboardist Rohan Heath.

On the back of their 2024 debut album, ‘As Dust We Rise’, Kiiōtō’s second album, Black Salt, out April 2026,
Whilst ‘As Dust We Rise’ took its starting point from a road trip the duo took in Louisiana, ‘Black Salt’ draws from a wider palette; looking inwards at their relationship with one another and then boldly outwards to the many facets of their interface with the outside world. Debut single, Butterfly, is a dark and brooding critique of a narcissist. Its prowling bass line, angular Rhodes chords and bell motif setting the mood. Zero Gravity, in contrast, reflects upon the transformational experience of orbiting earth, recounted in Samantha Harvey’s Booker Prize winning novel “Orbital”; Little Axe tells of the challenges of raising young men amidst the threat of violence in urban life; White Noise decries the hold of social media on the modern mind, and Lost Map echoes the somewhat surprising results of DNA tests the couple took. In all, Heath’s arrangements are spare and bold, leaning into jazz and old soul textures but, all the while, leaving Rhodes’s haunting vocal true room to breathe.

Written in the couple’s home studio in London, ‘Black Salt’ features guest appearances from a melting pot of musicians, notably the Jazz trumpeter Byron Wallen, Amy Winehouse’s guitarist Hawi Gondwe, Corrine Bailey Rae’s drummer Mykey Wilson and even some impromptu guitar by the one and only David Arnold. The resulting album is impossible to define by genre, skipping between jazz, torch song, broken beat and guitar-driven old soul, all on a backbone of Fender Rhodes, piano, Hammond organ, glockenspiel and tambura.

Listening to ‘Black Salt,’ it’s evident this wasn’t the easiest of journeys, with many songs lost along the way or put on ice. But, as Heath says: ‘It was precisely out of conflict and tension that Black Salt was born. Sometimes it felt like two stars colliding; a new star borne of chaos and heat, brighter than the sum of those destroyed.’
“Rohan would often give me titles I couldn’t imagine writing a song about”, Lou adds, “but it was in that process of pushing me outside my comfort zone, that these songs took their strength”

This event is 16 and over. Any ticket holder unable to present valid identification indicating that they are at least 16 years of age will not be admitted to this event, and will not be eligible for a refund. 

Get tickets for this event on: Ticketmaster

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