Charles Costa studied Sociology at Durham University for two years, before moving to London to become a musician, adopting the pseudonym and character of "King Charles" - taking on characteristics of influences like Prince and Adam Ant, eccentric and enigmatic, charismatic and confused. King Charles' music is colourful, beautiful and bright, psychadelic - a genre he calls "glam folk". His first album, "LoveBlood", was released in May 2012.
It opens with "LoveBlood", a huge pop anthem that has you dancing, clever lyrics, speaking of love running through the heart and veins. "Mississippi Isabel" draws up a character that we meet later in the album, with words that sound like a nursery rhyme, the whole song has a 60s feel to it, as does the following track, "Bam Bam". Crying out, "You keep me warm in the cold night air!", it's joyous and playful, with very Beatles-esque, swooping "oo-ooo-oo's" in the backing vocals.
The lyrics come first in "Love Lust" and captivate you. It references "Mississippi Isabel" again, an earlier love, and lyrically is gorgeous. It's a little heartbreaking, tainted with regret, and goes through a change of pace.
"Polar Bear" takes a darker turn - a dance, a masquerade. "Lady Percy" follows it. "If you agree to be my love, I'd build you a world that fits like a glove. It is psychadelic, playful, a love song of promises.
"Polar Bear" takes a darker turn - a dance, a masquerade. "Lady Percy" follows it. "If you agree to be my love, I'd build you a world that fits like a glove. It is psychadelic, playful, a love song of promises.
"Ivory Road" has a gorgeous violin sound, King Charles' charisma shining through in his voice and witty, speedy lyrics, twisting in a Dylan reference. Soft arpeggios through the verse make it that little bit haunting. It's romantic, sleepy, then jumps into life.
"The Brightest Lights" is a collaboration with tour-pals Mumford and Sons, the addition of a banjo really giving it their touch. It's a travelling song, an uplifting footstomper. Next comes "Beating Hearts", a love song, simple melody on an electric guitar.
"Coco Chitty" is so different from the other songs - a heartbreak song, sounding more like country than others. The chorus gets me every time -
"I don't need to see you, to know how beautiful you are,
And I don't need to find you, to know you've gone oh so far,
And I don't need to wait for you to know you're coming home,
Oh but darling, I need to love you, cause you're my heart and my soul."
Twinkling piano keys give "Wilde Love" an odd sense of joy, but it talks of killing something loved - shame and guilt. The sense of voice in the chorus is so powerful, as are the strings, and messy, playful backing vocals. It's followed by "Mr Flick", sounding that bit darker and grizzlier, rocks harder, the definition of "glam folk" truly making sense. It stops and starts to make room for drum patterns to glow through, some of the lyrics are spoken.
And then, everything softens as the it fades into "St Peter's Gate", much more guitar driven than anything else, and a lot more minimal. It concludes with "Love Is The Cure", continuing the same lyrical wit of earlier tracks with the simplicity of the song that comes before it - "Love is the cure for the soul's disease."
This album is like nothing else - psychedelic, and strange, and clever He's all the fun of Mika, all the wildness and character and royalty that Prince is, but this is still essentially folk music, just bright and fun, and full of extraordinary character.
King Charles is playing shows in the UK every night in April; he began tonight in Nottingham, and the rest of the dates can be found here.
"The Brightest Lights" is a collaboration with tour-pals Mumford and Sons, the addition of a banjo really giving it their touch. It's a travelling song, an uplifting footstomper. Next comes "Beating Hearts", a love song, simple melody on an electric guitar.
"Coco Chitty" is so different from the other songs - a heartbreak song, sounding more like country than others. The chorus gets me every time -
"I don't need to see you, to know how beautiful you are,
And I don't need to find you, to know you've gone oh so far,
And I don't need to wait for you to know you're coming home,
Oh but darling, I need to love you, cause you're my heart and my soul."
Twinkling piano keys give "Wilde Love" an odd sense of joy, but it talks of killing something loved - shame and guilt. The sense of voice in the chorus is so powerful, as are the strings, and messy, playful backing vocals. It's followed by "Mr Flick", sounding that bit darker and grizzlier, rocks harder, the definition of "glam folk" truly making sense. It stops and starts to make room for drum patterns to glow through, some of the lyrics are spoken.
And then, everything softens as the it fades into "St Peter's Gate", much more guitar driven than anything else, and a lot more minimal. It concludes with "Love Is The Cure", continuing the same lyrical wit of earlier tracks with the simplicity of the song that comes before it - "Love is the cure for the soul's disease."
This album is like nothing else - psychedelic, and strange, and clever He's all the fun of Mika, all the wildness and character and royalty that Prince is, but this is still essentially folk music, just bright and fun, and full of extraordinary character.
King Charles is playing shows in the UK every night in April; he began tonight in Nottingham, and the rest of the dates can be found here.
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