Revealing her highly-anticipated fourth album, the self-confessed food-lover (a semi-finalist on Celebrity Masterchef, cookbook writer, and podcaster) SPEECH DEBELLE has been influenced by the connection, comfort and culture that food allows us to explore.
The South London lyricist says of the title: “On a Monday, the Sunday dinner just tastes sweeter; everything has time to marinate and settle.”
Featuring the singles ‘Come Your Way’, ‘101010’, ‘Atlantis’, ‘Away from Here’ and ‘Wayward’, ‘Sunday Dinner On A Monday’ examines family, friends, lineage, and ancestral DNA through the lens of afro-futurism.
“It’s about how we imagine and then create our own futures”, says Speech. “The album is about our journey through life as we learn from experiences that expand our senses. We learn internal management and get closer to ease. Some of us even become nourished, like a good meal. This is THAT album.”
‘Sunday Dinner On A Monday’ has been mixed and mastered by Grammy-nominated and MOBO award-winning mixer and engineer Clinton McCreery (Enny, Kofi Stone, Manik MC), with writing and production from Skripture (Will.i.am, Gregory Porter, Basement Jaxx), and collaborations with Dem Drums, Jamaican production team Island Wav, Kensaye, and Mark Cake. It includes features from English contemporary pianist and composer Neil Cowley (Adele, Emeli Sande, Maribou State), Miss Baby Sol, Dylema, Alyesha Lei and Ruth Sax.
Speech Debelle – whose real name is Corynne Elliot – kicked in the music industry’s backdoor in 2009, waving her sensitive, introspective Mercury Prize ‘British Album of the Year’ and debut album ‘Speech Therapy’, beating the likes of Florence and the Machine, Kasabian and La Roux. Her 2012 Kwes-produced sophomore album ‘Freedom Of Speech’ commanded further critical acclaim expanding Speech’s captivating flair for poetic testimonies, playful narratives and dynamic rumination on power, politics and pleasure.
She later stepped away from music for a few years to develop her other passions; her zeal for cooking tantalised the nation with her inventive recipes as a semi-finalist on Celebrity MasterChef, while in 2013, her socially conscious drive saw her curating a moving exhibition of art by prisoners for the Koestler Trust’s ‘The Strength and Vulnerability Bunker’ at the Southbank Centre.
Speech combined her love for music and food in her weekly podcast ‘The Work Brunch’, where she cooked and discussed music, life and inspiration with a range of esteemed guests, such as Lianne La Havas, Nitin Sawhney, Shabaka Hutchings and Mikill Pane.
She accompanied her third album ‘Tantil before I breathe’ with her own cookbook and memoir expressing that ‘music and food are art – they heal and inspire’. The nine songs spanning all three of her albums tell a story of abandonment, the artistic process, critical acclaim, record label mistakes and healing, with a delicious, inspired recipe for each.
Speech has spent three years working as a Relationship Manager in the music team at Arts Council England. She has supported artists and organisations in receiving funding and spearheaded the ‘Black Influencers Masterclass and Programme’, which provides the toolkit for funding projects, specifically for Black and Brown people in the UK.
‘Sunday Dinner On A Monday was released today (9th June) on all music platforms. Have a listen below…
Must Listens: 11:11, A reading, Wayward,
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