To fully comprehend the music on Antonis Antoniou’s solo debut album, KKismettin, one should read up on the history and regions of the Republic of Cyprus, an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Disagreements between two prominent ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, have affected national policy. After an end of British rule, violence and a unilateral declaration led to creation of a separate Turkish Cypriot state in the north, not recognized under international law. Some efforts have been made to enhance freedom of movement between the two sides, and in 2008, a wall in the heart of Nicosia between the Republic of Cyprus and the UN buffer zone was demolished. After the reopening of Ledra Street, Greek and Turkish Cypriot officials relaunched reunification in 2015, but these collapsed in 2017.

Sound artist, producer, activist and self-professed “urban stroller,” Antonis Antoniou plays tzouras, synthesizers, electronics and stomp box. He sings also, and some backing vocals are provided by Angelos Ionas or Martha Frintzila on a few tracks. Kkismettin means “fate, destiny,” and in the title track, Antoniou crafts both a poetic and musical portrait of his divided hometown on this evocative political conceptual album.

Rather, than see hostilities continue, Antoniou has put the lyrics of Marios Epaminondas to music in the song entitled “Yelia je Ttelia” (“Laughter and Barbed Wire”) as a clarion call for laughter rather than pain, hugs rather than hostility, bridges and rolling barrels rather than checkpoints and walls. Antoniou vocalizes, “On the bastion, along the walls. That’s where fate brings us together. ‘Come close to me’, you tell me, laughing. And that’s when I completely lose my mind. I want to kiss you, to be satiated with you, and then to forget you again. Evening, it’s getting dark, let us embrace, and only be apart once the day breaks.”

The artist’s approach to world music combines melodies on the lute, along with the resonating analogue synth, edgy guitar riffs, and hypnotic trancelike lyrics. There is even one song, “Varella” (Barrel) that uses the analogy of a rusty barrel rolling in the fields to symbolize them as ghosts of the past. The concrete-filled barrels in the streets of Nicosia not only represent political agendas but also blind nationalism that limits people from enjoying the beauty of the entire Island of Cyprus. One instrumental, “Angali” is a call to embrace, while another interesting cut, “Barıs” enlists an eight-voice choir to sing a profound statement for peace, flowers and a breaking down of walls that divide, alienate, or cause corruption in society.

Closing with “Achtína” (Ray), Antonious’ parting words declare, “A ray pierces through the quarantine, painting wings on the curtain. A ray, a shadow of a month to come, unfolds the thread on the reel.” Cyprus musician Antonis Antoniou has created some engrossing music to encourage political discourse, collaboration, optimism and a favorable outcome for Cypriots. May their destiny be a bright one! (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)