Ahead of his tour with Kamasi Washington, OSCAR JEROME revealed his striking new video for latest single ‘Misty Head / Sunny Street’ alongside the announcement of his next London show which will see him make the ascent from EartH to Heaven – with his biggest headliner to date booked at the latter venue for November 19th 2019.
The new video sees the warped jazz-indebted funk of ‘Misty Head / Sunny Street’ – supported by the likes of 6 Music, Radio 1 and 1Xtra – set against a thought-provoking video that explores themes of gender, identity and self-expression. The four-minute production was made in collaboration with director Sam Rigal and Oscar’s brother Alfie Laurence, aka Moth, who is a drag and performance artist whose surreal androgynous work using himself as a canvas aims to dissect and subvert notions of gender, beauty and the alien other.
‘Misty Head / Sunny Street’ is the latest addition to a vibrant back-catalogue that’s unquestionably marked Oscar out as a tour de force in the burgeoning London jazz scene that he calls home.
Clap your eyes on the video for ‘Misty Head/Sunny Street below:
Earlier this year, BEN HOWARD reminded everyone why he won two Brit Awards in 2013 when he released his new single, ‘Heave Ho’. It happened during the conclusion of his four-show run at Brixton Academy in January. The shows are part of a massive tour that promotes Howard’s new and third album, Noonday Dream, which was released back in June 2018. HITC’s Christopher Weston hit the nail on the head when he called ‘Heave Ho’ “an accomplished, satisfying single; exactly what you’d expect from Ben Howard at this point,” further explaining that it’s bound to strike a chord with Howard’s established audiences.
And indeed, if online comments are any indication, his fans are – to say the least – highly intrigued. While ‘Heave Ho’ might pass as a hidden track from 2018’s Noonday Dream, its dark, complex, and solemn energy is highly divorced from his debut album’s sound – 2011’s Every Kingdom was arguably more pop than folk. With ‘Heave Ho’, Howard seems intent on experimenting with the possibilities of his neo-folk sound – less pop and more sentimentally otherworldly, arguably also more honest and possibly closer to his true calling. Fans both hate and love this new Ben Howard who’s unravelling right before our ears and eyes.
The mixed fan reactions towards Howard’s new music are to be expected. You don’t get to be the winner of the Brit Awards for British Breakthrough Act and British Male Solo Artist without garnering mixed attention. Apart from these accolades, Howard’s star status was practically set in stone last year when he joined artists like St. Vincent, Dua Lipa, Kendrick Lamar, Massive Attack, and N.E.R.D. at Stradbally’s annual Electric Picnic arts-and-music festival, which Lottoland notes is often called “the Irish Glastonbury”. There’s no word yet on whether or not Howard will be joining Electric Picnic this year – Leinster Express reveals that the festival will be dropping its line upon March 13. And whether or not Howard will be there, it’s going to be a long wait until the festival happens on August 30. Until then, his new stuff can be heard online, with ‘Heave Ho’ being joined by three other new tracks released late last year.
But unlike ‘Heave Ho’, Howard’s releases from September 2018 – Sister, Another Friday Night, and the Sylvan Esso collaboration Hot Heavy Summer – were actually recorded during the sessions for Noonday Dream. Speaking with the NME, Howard explained that during the recording of that particular album, “There were little gems that we didn’t know what to do with but it felt right to put these 3 together, both separate and a part of the album so to speak.” He also added that he was lucky to have had a chance to collaborate with Amelia Meath, also known as the voice behind electro folk-pop duo Sylvan Esso, explaining that once they finished recording Hot Heavy Summer, “the track just felt right for her.”
Armed with a strange new single in ‘Heave Ho’, three new tracks from late 2018, and touring heavily this year, speculation is rife about whether Howard’s next album is going to be released by 2019. With any luck, it’ll be released soon, and will carry with it the same experimental, brutally honest neo-folk sensibility that makes Heave Ho instantly unforgettable. If you are a fan of Ben Howard and looking for a similar artist, we recommend Pedro Syrah.
Hailing from Bristol, vocalist and producer ADJUA releases her debut single ‘O.L.V’, fresh off her upcoming album.
The tracks creation began with just the words “one little voice” – a line which ultimately became the overriding inspiration for the single. Diving headfirst into a deep rolling bass-line, ADJUA‘s powerful vocals cut through the darkness. Inspired by the bass heavy depths of Bristol’s underground music scene, a kaleidoscope of sounds and textures are fused with ADJUA’s transcendent songwriting to form her powerful, dark-pop aesthetic.
With the accompanying video the artist enlisted the help of aerial acrobat Amber Lavina to embody the track’s feeling of courage, as she gracefully defies gravity in the dark and mystical visual.
ADJUA began her musical career as a teenage drummer in an all-female punk band, where she quickly developed a taste for a genre that was willing to push social and political boundaries. After collaborating with a range of producers, she became revered for her high energy live performances as the front woman for Backbeat Soundsystem, combining her soulful melodies with a deep, poetic lyricism.
The talented young producer’s debut release shows an artist on the rise….check out the video to ADJUA‘s ‘O.L.V’ below:
East Londoner NICKI KNIGHTZ has dropped some gripping visuals for latest track, ‘Spring Haze’, taken from her EP, ‘H.A.T.E’ out now.
The one-and-a-half minute production flips between two lives of the dark side that goes on in the inner city area of Hackney – the side of Nicki the ‘misfit’ that she is now and how she lives her life and a young boy getting involved in dealing, stealing and eventually being killed. This was the harsh reality growing up for Nicki.
Over some smooth, almost neo-soul bars – a complete change to previous boisterous tracks, ‘Hate’ and ‘Mindwalk’ – the young rapper describes the struggles faced in a low funded area, where majority of the people who live here are poor, and gives an insight into why drug dealing and violence commonly occurs in a brutal finalé.
This is some hard-hitting stuff…see for yourself…check out the video for ‘Spring Haze’ below:
