Capricorn Sun

Releasing your debut album is the realization of a dream for any burgeoning artist. But for TSHA, *Capricorn Sun* sees not one but two dreams come true. “I’d always dreamt of having goats on my album cover,” she tells Apple Music. “I’m a Capricorn, so they’re my spirit animal, and they’re hardy, hardworking but playful, fun and interesting too, which is something I’ve always related to.” Following a run of EPs which saw TSHA become one of UK dance music’s most talked-about producers and claimed fans from Bonobo to Pete Tong (who recruited her as a mentor for his online DJ Academy), the London producer here defines and expands her music all at the same time. “It’s really eclectic in terms of the sounds I’m using,” she explains. “And I’m playing around with different tempos and delving into breaks and other sounds I haven’t explored much before. Overall it’s quite melancholic and there’s some darker moments than my previous work, but it’s optimistic and euphoric at the same time too.” Here, TSHA talks us through the album, track by track. **“Galdem (Intro)”** “During the lockdown, myself and my friend \[UK producer\] Effy really supported each other through what was a tough time and were sending voice notes back and forth to each other all day. I thought using one of those was a really nice way to open the album. Musically, it’s got the emotive piano chords and emotionally opens the whole album up.” **“The Light”** “This is a really simple track and was made at a time when I was feeling hopeful and positive for the future. It’s just the piano and a vocal sample, and calling it ‘The Light’ reflects where I was at mentally.” **“OnlyL” (feat. Nimmo)** “I love Nimmo, so it was great to work with them on this track. They have very different voices but they just marry together perfectly. There’s definitely a touch of ’90s rave euphoria here.” **“Water” (feat. Oumou Sangaré)** “I made this song just before the pandemic kicked off. I eventually managed to get the last flight out of the US, but before that, I’d been able to go into the BMG archive and found this vocal sample from Oumou Sangaré which I really love. I love the tone and the emotion in the voice. I couldn’t clear the sample at the time or I would have released it earlier, but I’m so glad people finally get to hear it.” **“Dancing in the Shadows” (feat. Clementine Douglas)** “Clementine has been on so many great dance tracks in the last few years, and she’s a real go-getter and is constantly writing top lines and sending them out to people. She sent me an a cappella and I just thought, ‘Wow, this is so beautiful.’ Usually I work on a track and then look for a vocal, but I worked the other way round with this. I wanted a bit of an early-2000s Ibiza vibe to it, and I’d also started to explore using breaks more in my music by then, so you can hear that influence too.” **“Giving Up” (feat. Mafro)** “Mafro’s my fiancé and also a successful music producer and artist in his own right. This was made during the lockdown in winter 2021 and it coincided with us being a bit disjointed because we were stuck in the house and couldn’t get away from each other. It was a tough time and I think that’s reflected in the music, but working on music together actually helped us out. It’s a melancholy track, and you can hear the frustration in it too.” **“Anxious Mind” (feat. Clementine Douglas)** “I wrote this at a time when I was suffering a lot of anxiety and it felt really heightened, so the track ended up sounding quite dark. I was also playing around with different tempos, and this is written at 140 beats per minute, which is the fastest I’ve written at. But it has that half-time sound so doesn’t strike you as being particularly fast at first.” **“Time”** “This is my favorite track on the whole album. We had moved to Tottenham and I got a studio there, so it was really nice to get out of the house and have my own space to work on music. That’s where I wrote this, and I was feeling really good about myself and happy at the time, so it’s got a lighter feel. I wrote it at 105 beats per minute, which is a really slow tempo for me.” **“Power”** “This track amalgamates a lot of old-school sounds with new sounds. There’s a great drum break on it, and then there’s a sample from a track called ‘I’m the One’ by the ’80s Brit-funk band Direct Drive. It’s a real dance-floor song and brings a lot of sounds I Iove together.” **“Running”** “Although it sounds nothing like them, I was quite influenced by Pink Floyd for ‘Running.’ I’d been listening to them a lot and there’s a psychedelic sensibility which kind of seeped into my brain and came out on some of the tracks. It’s a simple track really; the guitar riff is the main motif, and there’s a vocal sample in there too.” **“Sister”** “‘Sister’ was on my *Flowers* EP and is about me finding out I had a sister I didn’t know about, later in life. I wanted to include it on the album too because it’s a song I feel really good about and a lot of people got in touch with me saying how much it helped them over the past few years. I’m really attached to the song, and I’m glad other people are too.” **“Nala (Outro)”** “This track’s inspired by my dog, Nala. She’s my little studio friend, and I just look at her and feel inspired to write. She’s small and super loving, and I just wanted to dedicate something to her.”

TSHA returns to Ninja Tune with her long-awaited debut album ‘Capricorn Sun’, set for release on Friday 7th October 2022. Recorded over the past two years, the record delivers on the promise of her previous EP’s and Singles with 12 tracks that perfectly encapsulate the emotive blend of underground electronic and hook-laden pop sensibilities that have led to her being one of the most talked about new artists of the past few years. From gracing the front cover of high-profile magazines, appearing on numerous billboards, being included in flagship playlists and programmes by multiple streaming services and being placed on countless ‘best of’ & ‘one to watch’ lists, alongside high-praise from across the music press and radio – TSHA shows no sign of slowing down in 2022. The album follows her recent compilation for the revered ‘fabric presents’ series and an immense touring schedule that has seen her booked for over 100 shows across 2021/22, including opening for Disclosure at their two Alexandra Palace shows, performing to 40,000 fans across the West Coast of America with Bob Moses, a run of North American shows with Flume — including a stop at Colorado’s iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre — a festival run that includes a set at this year’s Glastonbury and an ongoing residency at Ibiza’s DC-10 for Circoloco to name just a few. ‘Capricorn Sun’ is both a statement of where she is right now as an artist and producer, but also a reflection of time she spent writing and recording the album, and the impact of global events, familial upheaval and personal struggles during that period. Lead single “Giving Up” — released today and arguably the most ‘peak time’ moment on the record — features TSHA’s partner Mafro, and was written during a period of strain between the couple (“I feel like that track is a manifestation of our frustrations at the time”). As you move through the album’s remaining tracks there are noticeable shifts across moods and emotions - ranging from the more upbeat and positive “The Light” and “OnlyL” through to moodier cuts like “Anxious Mind” — a personal highlight of TSHA’s — and the brooding “Dancing In The Shadows”, both of which feature vocalist Clementine Douglas. Other tracks hold significance for particular points in TSHA’s life, such as the previously released single “Sister”, written during lockdown after finding out she had an older half sister via her estranged father, and “Water” which picks up on TSHA’s love of the Malian Griot singing traditions (as evidenced on previous single “Demba ft. Trio De Kali”) and features Grammy-winning vocalist Oumou Sangaré. As a Capricorn herself, TSHA was initially drawn to the tales of ancient Greek mythology that told of a creature with the body of a goat and tail of a fish, hinting at the dual nature of the sign and the idea of having two distinct sides to a personality. “I like to identify with some of the positive characteristics of a Capricorn: the hardiness and the work ethic… but also the sensitivity,” she explains. “Naming the album ‘Capricorn Sun’ was a good way of saying ‘this is me’”. It’s a theme that carries through the album’s creative and artwork, which features several pygmy goats that are “a visual representation of the different parts of me, like the songs on the album represent different parts of me,” says TSHA. ‘Capricorn Sun’ is out on LP/CD & Digitally on 7th October 2022.

The UK producer casually throws house, UK garage, R&B, pop, and breakbeats into varied songs that are as emotionally relatable as they are instinctively danceable.

Created with live music in mind, TSHA's debut studio album transforms lockdown frustration into gradual catharsis

Fast-rising London producer and DJ TSHA followed several singles, a Fabric Presents mix, and a Diplo collaboration with Capricorn Sun, her full-length debut for Ninja Tune.

It’s been a transformative year for Teisha Matthews, otherwise known as TSHA. The London based DJ has made her mark across the stages of Alexandra Palace,

Capricorn Sun by TSHA: a triumphant statement from an artist whose rise has been inescapable over the past 18 months