Kkismettin by Antonis Antoniou

'𝘏𝘶𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨' 8/10 (𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐮𝐭)

'𝐴𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑦, 𝑑𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒-𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒́𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠' (𝐌𝐨𝐣𝐨)

'𝘒𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤' (𝐖𝐈𝐑𝐄)

'𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥' (𝐋𝐢𝐫𝐚)

★★★★★★ - 'Modern Masterpiece' (𝗚𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗔 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗮𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗲)
★★★★ - 'Eclectic and inventive' (𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀)
★★★★ - (𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀)
★★★★ - '𝐴𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑖𝑟, 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠.' (𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀)

- 'Album of the month' - (𝗥𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱)
- 𝐍𝐨.1 - World Music Charts Europe (June&July 2021)
- 𝐍𝐨.1 - Transglobal World Music Chart (July 2021)
- Nominated for the 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗸𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗸 (German Records Critic's Award) 2021
- Best album of North Africa & Middle East 2021 (Transglobal Word Music Chart)



Kkismettin means fate, destiny. The word is used by both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, the two largest communities inhabiting the island of Cyprus. In this deeply political conceptual album Antoniou attempts to craft a portrait of his divided home-town Nicosia. Many black pages appear in the island’s turbulent history including the current division and continuous political confrontation. For peace warriors struggling for reunification, this painful situation cannot be accepted as the island’s destiny. The course of Kkismettin can be manipulated by the people and brought to a fresh beginning with new foundations. The re-written kkismettin will be filled with laughter rather than pain, with hugs rather than hostility, with bridges and rolling barrels rather than checkpoints and walls.

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Kkismettin is the first solo album of Antonis Antoniou, founder and driving force behind the award-winning bands Monsieur Doumani and Trio Tekke. In his native Greek-Cypriot tongue, Antoniou blends together soundscapes and textures that have arisen throughout the course of his adventurous musical journey (from classical music to jazz, rock, traditional, experimental, sound art). The lute's middle-eastern melodies (one of Cyprus’ main traditional instruments) resonate with analogue synthesizer glides and edgy guitar riffs, pushing the boundaries and forming a distinct contemporary musical mosaic. The checkpoint barrels of the divided city of Nicosia literally become musical instruments, providing the rhythmic bedrock and creating a rusty/grimy quality.

The album was created during the unprecedented lock-down/confinement period that was enforced in Cyprus, as a measure to tackle Covid19. During the confinement period, people felt suffocated behind closed doors. They were reminded of the limitations to their freedom of movement and to other fundamental freedoms in this divided country, where streets have been forcibly interrupted by rows of concrete-filled barrels, placed there by the ghosts of the past. These toxic barrels represent political agendas but they also reflect the effects of blind nationalism, which does not allow us to enjoy the beauty of this island. Viewed on a more symbolic level, these rows of barrels, could be seen as material expressions of alienation between people, chasms and corruption in society.
In the album Kkismettin, the rusty barrels literally turn into musical instruments which resonate, establishing the rhythmic layout and the texture of the sounds. In this way, the barrels of Cyprus’ division are kicked playfully, they are deconstructed and the sad and tragic stories that they hide are exposed and then drift away. The barrels roll to far away fields and a fresh breeze brings celebrations, hugs and kisses. Thus, kkismettin is re-written with new terms of reference.

Founder of Monsieur Doumani, Buzz' Ayaz and Trio Tekke. Composer, Sound Artist, Producer, Activist, Urban Stroller, Experience Collector.