R&B Trio kid apollo Make Music That “Feels Like Home”

Picture yourself after a wild night out, exhausted, a cup of tea in hand, wrapped in a warm blanket, the light of the moon seeping through your curtains intertwining with the gradually changing colours of your Amazon LED light bulb. Now picture this playing in the background. 

Reading raised, South London based trio Kid Apollo – composed of twins Felix and Theo alongside friend Jimmy – are the 20 year old artists behind the perfect lofi R&B soundtrack for your winter nights. Their latest EP ‘u the real star here’ is a sublime blend of tender vocals, effortless authenticity and soothing production all packaged within a satisfying fifteen minutes. 

Initially bonded in secondary school by their shared appreciation for UK Hip Hop music and culture, the trio’s first explorations of creating music reflected the sounds they were drawn to. “We were just copying what all the cool artists were doing at the time. It was very surface level for us – like they’re doing that, let’s do that as well.” However, with age, an exploration of the sounds they exposed themselves to and moving to London their sound pivoted – feeling more free to openly create in their own lane. “The main change was when we moved to London. It almost felt like everywhere was doing hiphop. It was always around so it felt like we could be more ourselves and say we’re not hip hop artists, this is actually the music we want to make.”

Their first EP ‘All I Think About.’ lays bare the experiences of exploring a new city as teenagers – navigating a new world of nightlife, relationships, cultures and people. It’s honest, it’s relatable and it’s beautiful, three things that also reign true for their latest. However, after more time experiencing the capital – lead vocalist and writer Jimmy was able to pull more from those lived experiences to pen the lyrics for the seven tracks on ‘u the real star here’. “Naturally it’s gotten a bit more personal lyric wise – talking about things that happen to me or to people around me – like relationships in every sense. It’s a more refined and easy way of putting your experiences on paper and telling everyone.” Lead single ‘all on me’ is a demonstration of this sonic and lyrical growth. It’s two minutes of Jimmy effortlessly floating over the guitar riddled, beautifully minimal production of Theo and Felix – a seamless blend reflective of the group’s dynamic. Their process is chill, laid back and free flowing. “There’s no set roles, it just happens how it happens…. we all start on different things. One day one of us might start on production, the other might start on chord progressions. We all kind of do anything.” 

There’s a strong sense of collaboration throughout everything they do and their visuals are no different. It’s always interesting to see artists building worlds around their music – translating the feelings and sounds into physical and visual forms; and in the accompanying video to ‘all on me’ the group do just that – tapping into their directing, producing and editing bag. Handheld style, we see Jimmy taking a casual journey alongside London’s city lights, purple hazed sunsets and estate blocks as he sings into the camera with fun bts cameos from both Felix and Theo. For the group, video and music go hand in hand “With videos, it takes us quite a long time to come up with ideas but we really enjoy it almost just as much as making the music. It’s quite a big part of it for us.” 

It’s this collaborative energy and down to earth nature that makes Kid Apollo’s music so familiar. Putting in your earphones and pressing play on any one of their singles or projects is like recounting your nostalgic teen experiences wrapped in a warm and comforting relatability. With just 2 EP’s under their belt, the latest being released one week ago, it’s clear that the boys are in the genesis of their careers but with so much more to give; not just in music but beyond. 

Listen to ‘u the real star here.’