Song of the Day: Spazzin – Anderson 100 & Capstone Heights

Taken from their collaborative EP ‘New Moon’ (released via Dudley Road Records, created by Brum football legend Daniel Sturridge), Birmingham finests, CAPSTONE HEIGHTS and ANDERSON 100‘s lead single ‘Spazzin’, sports a soft introduction that leads into a heavy, clattering drill beat produced by Malice Beats. The pair ride the riddim with a gritty, scattergun flow, paying homage to their hometown and the great game of football too.

Together Capstone Heights and Anderson 100 encapsulate the influences and culture of their hometown Birmingham. ‘New Moon’ has a unique sound combining heavy beats, with Anderson’s recognizable skippy rap flow, and soulful, creative lyricism from Capstone.

Over recent months Anderson 100 has released an onslaught of music and made serious gains in the rap scene. Tipped as “…an artist with so much promise” by the likes of Kenny Allstar (BBC Radio 1Xtra), he’s also reeling in support from some of the U.K’s top DJ’s across Capital, Beats1 and 1Xtra, with joints such as ‘Bae Goals’ and ‘House Rules’. As a musician Anderson 100 has built a loyal and increasing fanbase from being able to produce unorthodox sounds whilst portraying integrity through the vibes his music gives, he expresses himself freely and is recognisable by the music he creates.

Singer/songwriter Capstone Heights is known for seamlessly merging multiple genres using 808 beats with hints of Soul, Hip Hop and R&B, to create a cutting edge experience for his listeners, exemplified in soulful tracks such as ‘Destress’ and ‘Champagne’.

Offering something new and unique, Anderson 100 and Capstone Heights prove why UK regional rap is flying high and put themselves on course for being frontrunners of not just Birmingham based artists, but the UK rap scene.

Check out ‘Spazzin’ below…

UK R&B Raising Talent Ricardo Williams Returns With ‘Raindrops’

After an amazing 2019, which witnessed Williams release his critically acclaimed debut EP and two sold out live headline shows (London & Birmingham), RICARDO WILLIAMS back with new single ‘Raindrops’.

Premiered on BBC1 Xtra, ‘Raindrops’ is the first of 2 new singles set for this summer. William’s latest release is a fun, sexy mid tempo R&B Jam, filled with tantalising vocals and clever wordplay. It wouldn’t be a Ricardo Williams song if it didn’t pay homage to an R&B classic and he sure does that with a nod to SWV’s ‘Rain.’

Check it out below…

Becky Bowe Share Video For Single ‘Don’t Darken My Door’

UK singer-songwriter BECKY BOWE has shared the colourful music video for ‘Don’t Darken My Door’ via Two Bridge Recordings.

Opening with bright shades of blue and silver, the music video for ‘Don’t Darken My Door’ provides a stark contrast to the sombre lyrics. Featuring the organic guitar chords and Becky’s warm, controlled vocals segueing into the mix laden with emotion and soul, the music video maintains a perfect balance between heartbreak and conviction.

Speaking of the music video, Becky Bowe says: “My idea for the video was to have the balloons representing thoughts and feelings about this said relationship and for me to release them by cutting them loose, letting them go and popping them so by the end I become free from the cloud over my head. I wanted to keep in with the light blue theme as I think it really compliments the chilled vibe of the song. The video would have never been what it was without the help of Declan Creffield who was the director, Milly Hewitt as set designer and Dana Cole for make up.”

Check out the video below…

Song of the Day: Same Again – Char

Following her critically acclaimed debut single ‘Control’, which was met with rave reviews from the likes of BBC Introducing, Lefuturewave, DiscoverNU, and Mercato Metropolitano Radio, Berkshire singer and songwriter CHAR‘s first offering of 2020 ‘Same Again’ is a mesmerising offering with warm R&B and lush pop sensibilities, led by CHAR’s smooth vocal and effortlessly soulful delivery, underpinned by a slow-building jazz-soul fusion minimalist musical backdrop, which allows CHAR to steal the show from start to finish.

The latest release sees CHAR looking introspectively at the cyclic repetitive behavior. She explains: “We often find ourselves trapped in, not considering the effects of doing the same thing again and again, and expecting a different result – whether it’s going back to that one person time and time again, or repeating the same night out over and over again. The track is a bit of hard nudge for me, but there’s also a self-soothing aspect to the track, where I’m saying ‘let’s not beat ourselves up too much’, because life is already tricky enough to navigate through as it is”.

Check out the video for the single below…

Song of the Day: Taxi – Average Joe

AVERAGE JOE’s single,‘Taxi’, is an ambitious, intense and eclectic listen, sat on a grooving rhythm made further compelling by bluesy jazz flourishes, soulful charisma and spades of Northern wit.

This artist takes the very ordinariness of everyday life – the mundanity, heartache, hard graft, and little victories and twists it all into something transformative, and hopeful. Brooding front-man Joe was raised in Stoke-on-Trent, an ex-industrial area whose cultural heritage – a thriving Northern Soul scene – Jimi Hendrix once playing in what is now a Wetherspoons, has slowly been eroded into a city sometimes known for little more than the birthplace of Robbie Williams.

Growing up, the escapist (yet seemingly unreachable) possibilities of music were made clear to Joe from an early age – his mum sang folk lullabies to him from the womb onwards, whilst his landlord Dad’s “working-class attitude, yet aristocratic high standards” exposed Joe to classic, confessional storytellers such as John Martyn and Tom Waits. Joe felt emboldened to sign up for the school musical, but one scrappy year of bullying later threw himself instead into the local post-punk scene, where his frustrations and fears were filtered into the idea of writing your own songs instead.

Now as inspired by vintage soul, hip-hop and classic R&B as the caustic spirit of Sleaford Mods or Mike Skinner, Average Joe takes timeless themes and renders them razor-sharp on the conditions of the present day….

Watch the video for ‘Taxi’ below…