Shygirl toyed with simply self-titling her debut album, but *Nymph* felt far more evocative—and fitting. “A nymph is an alluring character but also an ambiguous one,” the artist and DJ, whose real name is Blane Muise, tells Apple Music. “You don’t quite know what they’re about, so you can project onto them a little bit of what you want.” Co-written with collaborators including Mura Masa, BloodPop®, and longtime producer Sega Bodega, it’s an album that defies categorization, its stunning, shape-shifting tracks blending everything from rap and UK garage to folktronica and Eurodance. Along the way, it reveals fascinating new layers to the South London singer, rapper, and songwriter. While *Nymph* contains moments that match the “bravado” (her word) of earlier EPs *Cruel Practice* and *ALIAS*, Shygirl says this album is “ultimately the story of my relationship with vulnerability.” As ever, sensuality is central, but she resists the “sex-positive” label. “With a track like ‘Shlut,’ I’m not saying my desire is good or bad,” she says. “I’m just saying it’s authentically who I am.” Read on as Shygirl guides us through her beguiling debut album, one song at a time. **“Woe”** “This song is me acclimatizing to the audience’s presence and how vocal they are. Sometimes it’s annoying to have all these other voices \[around you\] when you’re trying to figure out your own. But then, on the flip of that, isn’t it nice that people actually want something from you? I often do that: give myself space to express some frustration or an emotion, then look at it in different ways. Sometimes I do that with sensitivity, and sometimes I’m just taking the piss out of myself. Like, ‘OK now, just get over it.’” **“Come For Me”** “For me, this song is a conversation between myself and \[producer\] Arca because we hadn’t met in person when we made it. She would send me little sketches of beats, then I would respond with vocal melodies. Working on this track was one of the first times I was experimenting with vocal production on Logic, manipulating my voice and stuff. It was really daunting to send ideas over to Arca because she’s such an amazing producer. But she was so responsive, and that was really empowering for me.” **“Shlut”** “I said to Sega \[Bodega\], ‘I want to use more guitar.’ I love that style of music, more folky stuff, because I used to listen to Keane and Florence + the Machine in my younger days. So, that’s definitely an undercurrent influence here, but the beat is a horse galloping. The horse was a very prevalent idea when I was making this album because it’s this powerful animal that is oftentimes in a domestic setting being controlled by someone. At the same time, there’s an element of choice in that relationship because the horse could easily not be tamed. I love that and relate to it a lot.” **“Little Bit”** “I have to give Sega credit for the beat. The way I work, mostly, is in the same room \[as my collaborators\], and we start from scratch. When most producers send me beats, I’m not inspired by them. But when Sega plays me stuff, I’m like ‘Wait, no—can I have that?’ I think because we started working together in 2015, he can probably anticipate what I want now. I never imagined hearing myself on a beat like this. It reminds me of a 50 Cent beat, which takes me back to my childhood. So, even the way I’m rapping here is nostalgic. I’m being playful and inserting myself into a sonic narrative that I didn’t think I would occupy.” **“Firefly”** “I started this song with Sega and \[producer\] Kingdom at a studio in LA, but then Sega had to leave for some reason. I was feeling a bit childish because I was like, ‘What’s more important than being in this room right now?’ So, then, with just me and Kingdom, I was like, ‘If I was going to make an R&B-style song, this is what it would sound like.’ I’d been listening to a lot of Janet Jackson, and I’d just watched her documentary. But really, I was kind of just taking the piss as I started freestyling the melodies. I really like being a bit flippant with melodies and not being too formulaic.” **“Coochie (a bedtime story)”** “The title is a Madonna reference. When I was shooting a Burberry campaign last year, her song ‘Bedtime Story’ was playing on repeat. It became the soundtrack to this moment where I was acclimatizing to a space \[in my career\] that was bigger than I had anticipated. I started writing this song at an Airbnb in Brighton with Sega and \[co-writers\] Cosha, Mura Masa, and Karma Kid. We were up super late one evening, and I was just sitting there, humming to myself. And I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to have a cute song about coochie?’ Growing up as a girl, there’s not even a cute word for \[your vagina\]. Everything is so sexualized or anatomical. I was like, ‘I need to make this cute song that I would have liked to hear when I was younger.’” **“Heaven”** “This track is quite experimental. The production started quite garage-y, but then it got weird fast. And then we reworked it again because I wanted it to sound sweet. I was thinking about when I broke up with my ex-boyfriend; there were moments where I was like, ‘Can we just forget everything and get back together?’ Obviously, you can’t just forget everything—it’s childish to want to erase those parts, but I can have that space in my music. In some moments, my ex was my peace and my place of absolute escape. And that’s what I equated to heaven at that point.” **“Nike”** “This is me revisiting my childhood, being that teenager at the back of the bus. It started when \[co-writer\] Oscar Scheller played me this recording he’d made of girls talking on the bus, and in the original production, we even had that \[chatter\] in there. You know when a girl is talking and saying nothing but also saying everything? I was that person! My friends used to ask me for advice about stuff I had no experience in, and I would dish it out with such vim. I thought it would be funny to dip back into that space on this track and be playful with it. Because no matter how sensitive I get, there is always this part of me with real bravado.” **“Poison”** “I love Eurodance music. When I DJ, it’s what I play the most. I just find it really fun and sexy and flirtatious, and I relate to the upfront lyrics. Some of my audience probably isn’t as familiar with my musical references here, such as Cascada and Inna, so it’s fun to introduce them to that sound a little bit. And I love that we found a real accordion player to play on the track. I really enjoy the tone and texture that you can get from using a real instrument.” **“Honey”** “I made this track predominantly with \[producer\] Vegyn. It came out of a real jam session where we had music playing in the room, and I was speaking on the mic over it. You get the texture of that as the song starts. There’s a lot of feedback that reminds me of The Cardigans and stuff with that ’90s electronica vibe. For me, this track is all about sensualness. I had this idea of being in an orgasmic experience that keeps on intensifying, so I wanted to replicate that sonically. That’s why I’m repeating myself a lot and why the melody tends to rearrange just a little bit as I rearrange the order of the words as well.” **“Missin u”** “This song is about me being annoyed at my ex-boyfriend. We’d broken up like six times, and we weren’t even together at this point, and I was just being really petulant about that. I write poems when I’m feeling any intensity of emotion, and so I wrote this poem where I was just really dismissive of the whole situation. Then, when I was in the studio with Sega, I put the poem to the beat he was working on. I wanted this track to feel a bit disruptive at the end of the album. Because no matter how sensitive I get, there is also this sharper energy to me and my approach to lyrics.” **“Wildfire”** “This track has a very Joshua Tree title because I wrote it with Noah Goldstein at his house there. I was imagining looking across a bonfire at someone I don’t even know but kind of fancy and seeing the fire reflecting in their eyes. I romanticize situations a lot in this way, so this song is really me riffing off that idea. It’s main-character syndrome, I guess! I don’t really like closed beginnings and endings. If I was to write a story, I would always give myself space for it to continue, and I think ‘Wildfire’ does that a little bit. That’s why it’s the final track.”
“Our philosophy as a band is to do things properly—to take the time to make what we want, exactly how we want it,” Kokoroko guitarist Tobi Adenaike tells Apple Music. “We never rush.” It is an ethos that has served the eight-piece jazz-fusion group well. The 2018 single “Abusey Junction”—featured on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label’s scene-defining UK club-jazz compilation *We Out Here*—was an online hit thanks to its slow-shuffling, soothing encapsulation of harmonic warmth, and helped build the London collective a strong following. Since then, there was a self-titled 2019 EP, high-profile shows, and an awful lot of expectation. The long-awaited *Could We Be More* is a sprawling set of 15 tracks spanning jazz swing, uplifting highlife melodies, and kinetic Afrobeats that reflects the collaborative nature of the ensemble. “This album is all eight of us exploring our own life experiences to create a record of who we are,” drummer Ayo Salawu says. “There is no agenda, just the inspiration of joy.” Read on for Salawu and Adenaike’s thoughts on the album, track by track. **“Tojo”** Tobi Adenaike: “We recorded the album at a live-in studio in Eastbourne, over the course of a month at the end of 2020. During that time, we picked apart the material we already had to create something new together. This track came from an initial idea from our keys player, Yohan Kebede, which we ended up reworking. It’s a throwback to a 1970s psychedelic sound with a heavy Afrobeat and jazz influence. The mishmash of atmospheres on this song feels like a perfect, grand opening.” **“Blue Robe (Pt.I)”** Ayo Salawu: “I grew up in Nigeria until I was 10 years old, and the rhythm on this interlude is an ode to the traditional West African rhythm I would always hear in church, or just on the street. It has a 6/8 signature over a 4/4 feel, which makes it instantly recognizable. The ‘Blue Robe’ of the title is to signify the regal vibe the rhythm has, and it’s a great segue to the next track, which works on the same rhythm but at a faster tempo.” **“Ewà Inú”** AS: “This song was based on an Afrobeat and highlife rhythm, which was one of the first drumbeats I ever played. When I work on this rhythm, it releases pure joy and reminds me of my childhood. The title means ‘inner beauty’ in Yoruba, since the song represents the experience of encountering beauty to us all.” **“Age of Ascent”** TA: “People have been waiting and asking for this song to be released for some time. We’ve been playing it ever since our trombone player, Richie Seivwright, came up with the initial idea a few years ago. The ethos of the song is all in its title: It’s about rising into a spiritual awakening through the music. This album feels like the right way to finally release the track, and it sits as a meditative, peaceful moment alongside the other songs.” **“Dide O”** TA: “The roots of this song come from jamming in sound check with Ayo during the tour we completed—just before the pandemic hit. I recorded a rough version of the tune on a voice memo and then brought it to the studio to be worked on. ‘Dide\' means ‘get up’ in Yoruba, since the song is based on the journey I would make every weekend as a child visiting family in North London. I’d fall asleep in the car and wake up at home to my mum and dad saying ‘dide.’ It’s a memory of that peaceful time.” **“Soul Searching”** AS: “Our producer, Miles James, worked quite heavily on this one, workshopping it with the rest of the band to add certain sections and remove others from the initial idea our saxophone player, Cassie Kinoshi, came up with. The title says it all: Musically, the song inspires an awakening and a sense of longing to find yourself and your place of belonging in those who surround us.” **“We Give Thanks”** AS: “We had a lot of midtempo songs at this point in the recording process, and we needed something upbeat to add into the mix. \[Bandmate\] Sheila \[Maurice-Grey\] came up with the idea of ‘We Give Thanks’ as joyous and congregational, and it fit perfectly with what we were looking for. This was one of the beats I’d play in church at seven or eight years old, and when I was recording it, the song really reconnected me to those roots. We recorded the whole thing in one take, since we tried to recreate the good energy of the song itself in the studio.” **“Those Good Times”** TA: “Before this album, none of the male members of the band used to sing, but one of the main goals with this project was to push us out of our comfort zones, so this song meant every member of the group getting behind the mic to vocalize the call-and-response sections. It was a really exciting experience, and it’s one we’re much more comfortable with now, especially during the live shows.” **“Reprise”** TA: “We use interludes in the record to help tie the album together, and this one is a reverse synth part of the track ‘Something’s Going On,’ with the vocal refrain added in. It’s an ode to the ’70s psychedelic era, creating something trippy to prelude to the full number, which comes later in the album.” **“War Dance”** TA: “‘War Dance’ is exactly what it sounds like: It’s aggressive and unrelenting, and the solos aren’t playing games, since it’s an anthem for getting yourself energized for going to war. The horn lines are reminiscent of Sierra Leonean people and their music. The seeds of the song come from a tune Sheila brought in that we would jam in sound check during our last tour. It has a huge sound that feels like 10 horns, while the melody is like a chant.” **“Interlude”** AS: “This track opens with a voice note taken from a video that references the Lekki shooting, which happened in 2020 when the Nigerian army opened fire on a group of protesters. We were reflecting on the horrors of that tragedy and made a piece asking for more from our fellow humans, so something similar would never happen again.” **“Home”** TA: “This track is from the same references as ‘Dide O,’ since it is an ode to the experience of home as a comforting environment and the feeling of looking forward to being back home when you are on tour. It plays like a stripped-back version of ‘Dide O’ also, soothing us towards our end point.” **“Something’s Going On”** AS: “Our bassist, Duane Atherley, is a soulful old soul, and he has an old-school approach, even down to the way he improvises around chord changes. He brought this one to the band, and it adds to the overall blend of the record, since we are eight people influenced by West African sounds, ’70s funk, and soul. An album allows us to delve further into our soundworlds and different influences.” **“Outro”** TA: “We were in the studio on our last day of recording, and this track came out as an organic moment that we managed to keep. We were all singing on ‘Something’s Going On’ and just kept improvising after the tune ended to capture the natural joy in the room as we celebrated reaching the end of the album.” **“Blue Robe (Pt.II)”** AS: “It felt necessary to call back to these foundational West African rhythms on the last track of the album. ‘Blue Robe II’ sounds, to me, like a journey into whatever we end up creating next. It is an end but also a beginning, taking the listener to a different destination from where we have just come throughout the album.”
Today sees the phenomenal, London based 8-piece band Kokoroko anounce their long-awaited debut album Could We Be More via Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings. Could We Be More is an expansive and ambitious album that speaks to the force of Kokoroko. Each song possesses the energy which so naturally underpins the heartbeat of Kokoroko’s identity - deftly moving through afrobeat, highlife, soul, and funk across the album’s 15 tracks and taking inspiration from a plethora of other influences from within the West-African and Caribbean communities that the band grew up listening to - the album gifts the listener feelings of homecoming and joy. Speaking on the origins of Could We Be More, band members Sheila Maurice-Grey and Onome Edgeworth explain: “I think home has hugely informed the way we write and play our music. Everyone comes from different backgrounds but the thing that unites us in Kokoroko is that we all have a similar love and appreciation for afrobeat and highlife, whether that’s Ebo Taylor or Pat Thomas,” Sheila says. “It’s that feeling when you’re younger and you hear something and you feel some ownership over it. For me, Nigerian music and soul was played in the house a lot so I felt I had ownership over it so when I heard it elsewhere, there was a certain pride and energy filled with it. Recreating a piece of music that fills you with pride, ‘this is a piece of me and this is what I came from,’” Onome adds. Kokoroko have come to represent all that is blissfully sweet about London’s improvised music scene - an echo of the past that has taken on new forms while still sounding new and entirely original. The band are a vibrant example of the shape of things to come for British music: having released just 7 tracks (1x EP and 3x singles) in their short career, they have quickly developed a huge cult following with 60Million+ Spotify streams to their name and a classic record already under their belt in 2018's intimate viral masterpiece ‘Abusey Junction’. As they release their similarly immersive debut album, Kokoroko’s return feels particularly poignant. The collective are already winners of ‘Best Group’ at the Urban Music Awards 2020 and the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2021, have been lauded in the NPR Austin 100 list, been crowned One To Watch by The Guardian, played across the globe at the likes of Glastonbury, Meltdown Festival, Elbjazz, Jazz a la Villette, We Out Here, SIM São Paulo and BBC6 Music Festival (to name a few), performed a raucous session for Boiler room and made their BBC Proms debut in the Royal Albert Hall; all up front of their debut record, which is as, progressive and musically versatile as you would expect from the eight different personalities within Kokoroko. With equal support across BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music, Jazz FM, CLASH, Crack, The Observer, Evening Standard, Mixmag, Trench, gal-dem, Loud & Quiet, Rolling Stone, NATAAL + many more - what Kokoroko have achieved in the past four years is nothing short of remarkable.
Vocals, written and performed by George Riley Produced and recorded by Vegyn with bass by Ben Reed Strings arranged and recorded by John Keek Strings performed by Karl McComas-Reichl Mixed by Joe Visciano at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn Sequenced by Emmett Cruddas Mastered by Beau Thomas at Ten Eight Seven Mastering Artwork by Noah Baker Photography by Lucas Creighton
Daniel Avery's most ambitious and accomplished studio album to date, 'Ultra Truth', is out now on limited edition double white vinyl, CD and blue cassette. 'Ultra Truth' offers a very different listening experience to any of Daniel Avery’s previous records. It inhabits its own world of sound, a construct built in his Thames side studio with collaborative help from a host of friends: the production touch of Ghost Culture and Manni Dee, the vocals of HAAi, Jonnine Standish (HTRK), AK Paul and the voices of Marie Davidson, Kelly Lee Owens, Sherelle and James Massiah. “Ultra Truth finds me in a different place to where I’ve been before. My previous albums have all focused on the idea of music being an escape or a distraction from the world but that’s not the case this time. For me this album is about looking directly into the darkness, not running away from it. There’s a way through these times but it involves keeping the important people in your life close to you and navigating the noise together. This is an intentionally heavy and dense album, the hooks often hidden in dusty corners. I’m no longer dealing in a misty-eyed euphoria. Ultra Truth is a distorted fever dream of a record: riled, determined and alive.” In creating 'Ultra Truth', Daniel Avery went back to many of the things that had inspired him to first make music as a teenager - pensive, emotive records by Deftones, Portishead, Nick Cave or Mogwai, the exquisite darkness of David Lynch’s movies and - on tracks like Devotion and Higher - the thunderous energy of leftfield rave music. “I’m working with an entirely new world of sound on this record. Every single influence from the last decade spent on the road plays a part. Things that have been in the back of my mind forever, warped, distorted and pushed to a new place.”
Listen to the fourth album by Scotland-born, LA-based Ross Birchard and you’re liable to feel a little overwhelmed. Sugar rush or religious epiphany? The elation of a good roller coaster or the nausea that sets in when the ride loses control? Birchard likes it all, and by the fistful. Nearly a decade out from his public christening as a producer for Kanye West (“Mercy,” “Blood on the Leaves”) and half of the jock-jam festival phenomenon TNGHT (with Lunice), he’s become the kind of musician it seems like he wanted to be all along: bright, weird, funky, funny, and guided by an optimism so irrepressible you wonder if, deep down, he feels a little sad. “Stump” is the most beautiful music that didn’t make *Blade Runner*. “Bicstan” is Aphex Twin for a seven-year-old’s birthday party. He can balance tracks as abstract as “Kpipe” with ones as direct as “3 Sheets to the Wind,” and the soulful lag of American rap (“Redeem”) with the momentum of UK bass (“Rain Shadow,” “Is It Supposed”), not to mention whatever neon-halo hybrid “Behold” is. This is opera for people raised on anime. And as easy as it is to imagine listening in a big, sweaty room, he knows that most of us will end up taking it in alone on headphones—and he wants us to have fun.
“‘Do the wrong thing’ is my thing,” TJ “Lil Silva” Carter tells Apple Music. “Because everyone thinks, ‘Oh, we\'ve got to use this bassline, or do that sound.’ But actually, we should all strive to be in the now. What feels good, *right now*?” More than a decade on from his teen emergence in the UK’s Funky House scene, Lil Silva’s genre-bending odyssey lands here: a debut LP hosting a vigorous bout between ego and self-doubt. “It\'s all self work,” he says. \"But that’s important, because how much time do you want to invest in yourself? What do you want to unlock in your brain that you haven’t? How much are you worth?\" These questions arose for the producer, singer, songwriter and DJ throughout the course of deep meditation and Theta healing (an energy healing technique and spiritual philosophy), and lay central to his ongoing exploration of the self. *Yesterday Is Heavy* crafts a moving elegy that explores feelings of alienation (“Backwards”), raw emotion (“Another Sketch”) and disjointedness (“Still”) experienced throughout lockdown, and remedied in rich, experimental textures that draw on the sincerity of Silva’s bluesy vocals and arrangement style, plus some eclectic collaborations (including standout moments with Sampha and Little Dragon). “I’ve always been skeptical about being genre specific,” he says. \"I’ve always known that Lil Silva is going to be a sound. Yes, I’ve been influenced by Timberland, Pharrell, and even the early grime era of Davince, Plastician, Jon E Cash, Wiley. All have defining sounds. But I wasn’t listening to music for about two years when making this album. I was only going back in my archive, and bringing out what hadn’t seen the light of day.” Here, Lil Silva talks us through the 12 expansive tracks of his debut album, track by track. **“Another Sketch”** “I’m constantly inspired by the changing state of water. The idea that something can be, in real time, one thing, in the past something else, and in the future have a different existence, state or body. This song is about heritage, and moments in time, whether that’s in the past, present or future. So it’s about family, also.” **“Be Cool” (with Little Dragon)** “I started writing this song with \[producer and multi-instrumentalist\] Mansur Brown. He’s dangerous to be in a studio with because in between trying to finish a song, he\'ll play something crazy, I think we made five songs that day. His \[guitar\] playing is insane, and the way he\'s got his pedal game is a joke. He was playing this groove, and I done this whole beat around it. And after I wrote this song, I sent it over and \[Little Dragon’s\] Yukimi \[Nagano\] loved it. It really related to her, and she also added in a few things. I’d done some remix work with Little Dragon before, but we’d been itching to get a song of our own together.” **“Vera (Judah Speaks)”** “This track picks up from the tempo of the intro. I started with the drums off the top, working with \[producer\] Duncan Laurence, we did “Deja Vu” \[on 2016 EP *Jimi*\] together, and working with peope that I consider family on this album just felt right. We created this orchestral feel and had strings played by \[composer and arranger\] Sally Herbert. I’ve always known I’d have some strings on my album—and that goes back to my early tracks like \[2008 single\] “Seasons”, with the brass influence, I’m just pulling from that.” **“Leave It” (with Charlotte Day Wilson)** “This is a message about celebrating what’s right in front of you. There’s no need to worry, or at least don’t worry for *too* long. The clouds of doubts that hover over, in life, and sometimes in love feel like you’ll never move out of. But, however grey and however challenging, there’s a way to get through it. It’s too easy to get caught up in everything around you. **“September”** “There was a lot raw emotion in this. I was definitely feeling a lot of grit in that day, and it all came out in ‘September’. I was with James Vincent McMorrow and Benji B, and we’d clipped through this sample, and Benji played it for me at the perfect time. I was like: ‘Wow, I\'ve never really put samples on my song before like this.’ So, it was paying homage to it I guess. James is dope, really dynamic, and always comes up with these crazy interesting melody trips. And Benji has done *a lot*. He’s the perfect guy to have in the room, for his energy, and knowledge of music, to radio, and fashion. It wouldn\'t have felt right if I didn\'t have the \[club brand\] Deviation family in-and-out of this, to bounce the energy off, because my music\'s gone from the club to here, and he\'s been a massive part of that.” **“To The Floor” (with BADBADNOTGOOD)** “It\'s in the title, man. Just get to it, basically. With BADBADNOTGOOD, we had this unconventional arrangement and it was about just pocketing those grooves, and the funk. This was one of the five, myself and Mansur had done, but I was like, man, this could definitely have an extra bit of funk—there\'s a groove that could be interesting here. So I played the idea to BADBADNOTGOOD, and they came through with: drums, guitar, and even some flutes!” **“Backwards” (with Sampha)** “This song touches on the feeling of alienation and constantly venting in the matrix you find yourself in, whatever that may be. Restricted and feeling guilty to move forward, constantly going backwards mentally; I guess the song is about being in a never ending cycle and the heaviness that can bring.” **“What If? (with Skiifall)”** “I really channeled inspiration from our roots on this record. You can hear the reggae, bashment and grime influence weave in and out. This track is about the course we find ourselves on, without even thinking. It’s about the huge role that love and family plays in our lives, but staying grounded and never forgetting what got us here.” **“Colours”** “I was coming into the studio shoot for about four or five days, I kept singing, ‘There\'s colours, colorus, colours’… it\'s like, why is this bugging me? It\'s every day, saying the same thing. It just kept trickling through my brain. And I made that into this beautiful soul thing, and eventually I switched it up. This bassline you could say comes from grime—but grime is in me. I used to be in \[Bedford grime collective\] Macabre Unit back in the day.” **“About Us” (with Elmiene)** “It was good for me to get back into my archive, it was like a massive soundboard for myself with sounds and work I could take. Across this process when I would have a block, I would just dig in my archive, as you would, it\'s almost like I\'m going to remix one of my tracks that no one knows about this. It\'s all there.” **“Still” (with Sampha & Ghetts)** “We were all in the room jamming for around 30 minutes. And as I’ve dissected this beat—everyone behind me, they all loved this bassline. But I didn\'t like it. Just how familiar, or how close to familiar it was, so I flipped it and found the right bass. Then Sampha dropped the first line, and I knew he had to repeat it. It\'s so honest, man, it\'s just like, ‘Fuck, I *still* got all this shit to do’. And he just kept on flowing. And that was the thing: If it feels good to me now, we\'re going to do it *now*. This shit was lighting me up. Because if it\'s not lighting you up, why are you doing it?” **“Ends Now” (with serpentwithfeet)** “So we’re back to Mansur’s crazy licks. I breathed a vocal on this, and asked Serpent’ to try some vocals on it, and he fell in love. He just got it. Then he\'s taking my lyrics and putting them in places to sustain his vocal in moments, and pocket it differently. He’s also not trying to do the conventional thing, it’s all about what feels good.”
“I literally don’t take breaks,” ROSALÍA tells Apple Music. “I feel like, to work at a certain level, to get a certain result, you really need to sacrifice.” Judging by *MOTOMAMI*, her long-anticipated follow-up to 2018’s award-winning and critically acclaimed *EL MAL QUERER*, the mononymous Spanish singer clearly put in the work. “I almost feel like I disappear because I needed to,” she says of maintaining her process in the face of increased popularity and attention. “I needed to focus and put all my energy and get to the center to create.” At the same time, she found herself drawing energy from bustling locales like Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, all of which she credits with influencing the new album. Beyond any particular source of inspiration that may have driven the creation of *MOTOMAMI*, ROSALÍA’s come-up has been nothing short of inspiring. Her transition from critically acclaimed flamenco upstart to internationally renowned star—marked by creative collaborations with global tastemakers like Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, and Oneohtrix Point Never, to name a few—has prompted an artistic metamorphosis. Her ability to navigate and dominate such a wide array of musical styles only raised expectations for her third full-length, but she resisted the idea of rushing things. “I didn’t want to make an album just because now it’s time to make an album,” she says, citing that several months were spent on mixing and visuals alone. “I don’t work like that.” Some three years after *EL MAL QUERER*, ROSALÍA’s return feels even more revolutionary than that radical breakout release. From the noisy-yet-referential leftfield reggaetón of “SAOKO” to the austere and *Yeezus*-reminiscent thump of “CHICKEN TERIYAKI,” *MOTOMAMI* makes the artist’s femme-forward modus operandi all the more clear. The point of view presented is sharp and political, but also permissive of playfulness and wit, a humanizing mix that makes the album her most personal yet. “I was like, I really want to find a way to allow my sense of humor to be present,” she says. “It’s almost like you try to do, like, a self-portrait of a moment of who you are, how you feel, the way you think.\" Things get deeper and more unexpected with the devilish-yet-austere electronic punk funk of the title track and the feverish “BIZCOCHITO.” But there are even more twists and turns within, like “HENTAI,” a bilingual torch song that charms and enraptures before giving way to machine-gun percussion. Add to that “LA FAMA,” her mystifying team-up with The Weeknd that fuses tropical Latin rhythms with avant-garde minimalism, and you end up with one of the most unique artistic statements of the decade so far.
When Kendrick Lamar popped up on two tracks from Baby Keem’s *The Melodic Blue* (“range brothers” and “family ties”), it felt like one of hip-hop’s prophets had descended a mountain to deliver scripture. His verses were stellar, to be sure, but it also just felt like way too much time had passed since we’d heard his voice. He’d helmed 2018’s *Black Panther* compilation/soundtrack, but his last proper release was 2017’s *DAMN.* That kind of scarcity in hip-hop can only serve to deify an artist as beloved as Lamar. But if the Compton MC is broadcasting anything across his fifth proper album *Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers*, it’s that he’s only human. The project is split into two parts, each comprising nine songs, all of which serve to illuminate Lamar’s continually evolving worldview. Central to Lamar’s thesis is accountability. The MC has painstakingly itemized his shortcomings, assessing his relationships with money (“United in Grief”), white women (“Worldwide Steppers”), his father (“Father Time”), the limits of his loyalty (“Rich Spirit”), love in the context of heteronormative relationships (“We Cry Together,” “Purple Hearts”), motivation (“Count Me Out”), responsibility (“Crown”), gender (“Auntie Diaries”), and generational trauma (“Mother I Sober”). It’s a dense and heavy listen. But just as sure as Kendrick Lamar is human like the rest of us, he’s also a Pulitzer Prize winner, one of the most thoughtful MCs alive, and someone whose honesty across *Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers* could help us understand why any of us are the way we are.
On his third solo album, Fred Gibson (better known as Fred again..) returns with his fingers firmly on the pulse of everything around him. Rounding out a deeply personal trilogy, *Actual Life 3* sees the London-based producer, DJ, and singer-songwriter once more thrive on the challenges of sound reinvention and renewal. “I think the feeling that I’ve become really obsessed with is taking very fleeting moments and exposing as much beauty as is in them,” he tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “You know how sometimes if you see something in normal timing, and then you see it in slow-mo, like, ‘Oh wow. There\'s a whole new emotional framing for this.’” Fred first envisioned this unique narrative in 2020 for his debut, *Actual Life*, released over lockdown as a remedy to the melancholic uncertainty of the time. Delivering three distinct chapters across 2021, the BRIT Award-winning producer (and longtime mentee of Brian Eno) dives deeper in his cache of bright snippets and samples from everyday scenes, fusing soul, R&B, and bass house elements for jaw-droppingly euphoric and intimate tracks. “Sometimes I’m conscious of it and sometimes I’m not,” he says. “But one thing I know is that when I’m there, I make loads of ideas.” Much of this LP was made on the move, via long airport stops, tube journeys, or lunchtime breaks. And, like its predecessors, this collection is predominantly influenced by this process, with tracks labeled after the people he’s worked with, or the inspirations behind them. Here, Gibson draws euphoria from fleeting emotions, filtering vocals from names including London rapper and singer BERWYN, Toronto poet Mustafa Ahmed, and G.O.O.D Music’s 070 Shake across woozy synths and deep, intrepid basslines. But *Actual Life 3* also differs in its greater worldly experience. As is the case with hits he’s penned for the likes of Ed Sheeran, BTS, George Ezra, and Stormzy, tracks including “Delilah (pull me out of this)” (sampling Delilah Montagu’s 2021 single “Lost Keys”) and “Bleu (better with time)” (slicing verses from Yung Bleu’s 2020 track “You’re Mines Still”) arrive with the boost of rapturous unveilings at Gibson’s online DJ sets and gig slots. Although getting the music to people’s ears on these occasions offered an ideal proving ground for his blossoming tracks, it was moments of solitude that gave him the most to work with. “When you\'re on your own,” he explains, “you can just be in the world—any place that gives you a conveyor belt of humanity, buzzing away in the background, often when there\'s a bubbling undercurrent of slight excitement, I think that’s just the ultimate gift.”
Ever since an early Obongjayar demo first surfaced on SoundCloud in 2016, it’s been clear that Steven Umoh, the man behind the moniker, possesses a completely unique talent. Known to his friends simply as ‘OB’, the Nigerian-born, London-based musician pens stirring and spiritual lyrics, while commanding a distinctive voice that flits between rap, song and spoken word. With afrobeats, soul and hip-hop influences, he has created a bold, genre-defiant musicality. Despite rich successes over the last few years; OB has never felt ready to release an album, until now, and his debut full-length, Some Nights I Dream of Doors represents a real levelling up for Obongjayar. Across twelve tracks, he deftly moves through diverse sounds and subcultures while navigating a wealth of personal and political topics. OB recently featured on the latest Little Simz album and the most recent Pa Salieu project.
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.
DJ/producer Teneil Throssell calls her debut album under the alias HAAi “a hyperactive journey that feels like a real reflection of who I am.” While that description rings true in some of her frantic breakbeats and other concussive blasts, Throssell also excels at downtempo softness and many subtle textures in between those poles. Formerly the guitarist/vocalist for Sydney, Australia, shoegaze trio Dark Bells, she relocated to London and made a name for herself as a DJ thanks to meticulous crate-digging and trippy flourishes she adds to her sets. Both qualities shine on this album, with lead single “Bodies of Water” memorably contrasting Throssell’s slow, dreamy vocals with crackling techno motifs. *Baby, We’re Ascending* also boasts high-profile collaborators, from ambient keyboardist/composer Jon Hopkins on the radiant title track to Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor on the string-swept “Biggest Mood Ever.” Meanwhile, spoken-word poet Kai-Isaiah Jamal and singer Obi Franky hold hypnotic sway over assorted slippery contours on “Human Sound.”
While on stage at the 2019 Headies ceremony, Rema declared himself “the future” after winning in the Next Rated category of the Nigerian awards show. Whether those words were prophetic or just an audacious estimation of self, the Benin-born musician has delivered on his promise ever since. As a standout talent, Rema has been a critical factor in pushing Afropop into a genre-fluid, futurist epoch that produces a vibrant mosaic of the music—encompassing influences from the hyper-frenzy of trap, reggaetón’s melodic undertone, and the immersive sonics of Bollywood scores. All of these influences come to a head on the singer’s debut LP, *Rave & Roses*, a 16-song set on which he details love, addiction, and fate with pointed clarity. “I swear this album has different moods, different stories,” Rema tells Apple Music. “Just the recording process had different reasons that carried me to the studio, moments that just came out of the blue, but with the same goal. I didn’t have a solid written plan, so I literally approached this album with no fear or pressure. Every project will have different meanings to me, aside from the story they tell—but this one is a sound-sealer, and it’s that bridge to bring the fans closer to Rema.” Without sacrificing the romantic impulse that inspires much of *Rave & Roses*, Rema vocalizes his belief in predestination and examines societal dynamics with contributions from an eclectic cast that includes American singer 6LACK, British rapper AJ Tracey, and French vocalist Yseult. Read on as Rema (Divine Ikubor) guides us through *Rave & Roses*, one track at a time. **“Divine”** “‘Divine’ is all about how I was born; it’s about my birth process. It shows the trials and the stress and the worries and the pain my mom had to go through in giving birth to me. Even before she was pregnant with me, she was going through battles, and I came at a very weird time in her and my dad’s life. I spent over 10 months in the womb, but I never caused any pain. She was just worried about if the child was alive because I wasn’t making any movements. Until she fell very ill and went to the hospital, and the doctor just decided to give her enough confidence to give it a little push. And she gave it a little push. It was the easiest birth she ever had. My dad told her to name me, and she called me Divine. I tried my best to squeeze all that detail into the first verse, but the best part of the song shows how far that very divine boy has come—as well as talking my shit. I’ve been fighting battles way before I was born, and I deserve everything I’ve got.” **“Hold Me” \[Rema & 6LACK\]** “‘Hold Me’ is literally a mature sense of love. I’m talking about a girl that is not really all about the show, because it’s quite rare in this generation. She’s not about a guy buying her dinner or buying her drinks or getting her gifts. She is just looking for someone to love and respect her, mostly. And it’s just me being that famous guy and observing someone who is quite rare in my generation. Even if I’m famous and all, she doesn’t care about that. She just wants to hold me down and be that real one for me. So, the title represents feeling safe with this woman. That’s what every guy looks for: those quiet moments where you feel safe in this crazy world. I did this song with 6LACK and it’s a masterpiece.” **“Dirty”** “‘Dirty’ is all about good love—the special times two people can share. I would say it’s a \[2021 single\] ‘Soundgasm’-type feel. I’d say it’s the next level of the ‘Hold Me’ narrative; that’s how it advances. Also, the last line from that song is mostly directed towards the pleasure of having someone you love. **“Calm Down”** “With ‘Calm Down,’ I was with some people from the Mavin Academy, and we were just vibing and chilling. We went into one of the studios where we saw \[Andre\] Vibez. Vibez saw that our energy was up, and we just wanted to freestyle on beats. The next day, I recorded and brought up my experience where I met a girl at a party. I was trying to get her attention and we could only go halfway in the party, but it advanced and we just locked in and loved up.” **“Soundgasm”** “I made this song on February 14, 2021—Valentine’s Day. And that was a special day, but even if it’s a holiday, I still work. I was at a hotel, actually. London and I just linked up for this.” **“Time N Affection” \[Rema & Chris Brown\]** “‘Time N Affection’ is about the time you put into someone you love and how much you give into it. It’s one thing to love and spend money and ball and whatever, but when it loses that main interest, it’s not love anymore. It’s lost. Putting in your time, no matter how busy you are, and putting in your interest proves how much you love someone, and that’s what the song is all about. Chris Brown did his part and that made it a special record. Very graced to have his vocals on my album.” **“Jo”** “‘Jo’ is just a happy record. In the studio, I was in a very light vibe with that record. ‘Jo’ is the Yoruba word for ‘dance.’ The song is just a happy jam that covers the whole ‘roses’ aspect of the album, attached to love.” **“Mara”** “‘Mara’ is all about the addiction and madness that comes with love. It’s being obsessed. It’s the next level. According to the arrangement of the songs on the album—from ‘Hold Me’ to ‘Dirty’ to ‘Mara’ and ‘Love’—the love waxes stronger from track to track.” **“Love”** “It’s really a loved-up album. It’s hype and it’s love. Two great mediums, two great frequencies to tap into, to seal the Rema brand a hundred percent. ‘Love’ is all about love and what it can inspire—and the addiction that comes with love. This is my definition of love. It’s not, ‘I’m in love with you.’ It’s not, ‘Love this or love that.’ It’s just love. It’s my own definition of love and how I embrace my own love life.” **“Addicted”** “‘Addicted’ speaks about a girl who’s addicted to the lifestyle. Addicted to drugs, fame, partying, whatever comes with the fake life, the clout or journey. Everyone is allowed to have fun, but there should be a balance. I know this girl who actually crossed the limit and had an overdose of this lifestyle. In this record, I deemed it not right at all, because being at the \[career\] height I am, I know that I can have this life to the fullest, but I still have my laidback time to create a balance. So, this song is literally me telling this girl, ‘Yo, you could have a balance to it. Don’t get carried away by it.’” **“Are You There?”** “‘Are You There?’ is a wake-up call. We go crazy about the government and \[yet\] slowly we have accepted their bullshit and we just tend to ignore and only talk when it affects us. We are still complaining about the things our parents complained about. In this song, I complain about certain issues that we face, and the ways I air out my feelings about certain issues in the country. Many things are happening at the same time, and while people are dying, some people are in the club. So, I decided not to care anymore. I just can’t be here focusing on the negativity of the country. Don’t ask me any questions when I’m outside the country and I’m balling.” **“FYN” \[Rema & AJ Tracey\]** “‘FYN’ is about this young kid from Benin working his way up, three years back-to-back, and being in this position that I always knew to be the ‘fresh young n\*\*\*\*a’ young position from back in the days. When I used to see my big bosses back then, that’s how I labeled them—I’d call them ‘fresh young n\*\*\*\*s.’ When I knew I was in that place and when I knew that my bank account was looking good, when I knew that I had worked my way to that status, I felt the need to talk my shit a little bit. With every level that I \[reach\], I always make sure that I get the matching beats, something that matches the feel and the level at which I want to talk my shit. AJ Tracey killed his verse. His voice was perfect for the beat, and his flow was perfect for the lyricism.” **“Oroma Baby”** “‘Oroma Baby’ is a jam. It’s just a dance record that still covers the term ‘love’ and how it is attached to the ‘Roses’ side of the album.” **“Carry”** “‘Carry’ is practically the same idea that I used in my record ‘Lady.’ It’s just pouring praises on the body of an African woman, and on what she’s all about, inside out.” **“Wine” \[Rema & Yseult\]** “‘Wine’ is a love record, partly English, partly French. We were trying to bring the French people to connect with this vibe as well. Yseult and I had a huge connection with this record. \[*Rave & Roses* co-producer\] London made sure that collab happened; I actually did the song halfway, and then I forgot about it. Then, London did his thing and came back with vocals, and I was like, ‘Who’s this?’ And he was like, ‘Yo, this is Yseult.’ I\'m glad he brought her world into my world.” **“Runaway”** “‘Runaway’ was inspired by my experiences back in the days before fame. We live in a society where boys are hustling, and a guy would just take your babe and stuff like that. I had back-to-back anxiety and a little insecurity about holding such a beautiful girl down, because I was broke and not in the position where I wanted myself to be. So, ‘Runaway’ is literally me telling her that I’m not sure our love could thrive here. It’s just me telling her to run away with me and create our own definition of love.”go here.