quête:joy crookes

South London singer, songwriter and cultural powerhouse Joy Crookes has today unveiled the news that her worth-the-wait second album Juniper will be released on September 26th ahead of a full UK & EU headline tour.

A stunningly candid and fearless body of work, the album reaffirms Joy as one of the UK’s most vital and original voices. A once-in-a-generation talent, Crookes delivers a record that is both emotionally raw and sonically rich; humorous, heartbreaking and profoundly human.

Following the success of her 2021 debut Skin, which earned BRIT and Mercury Prize nominations, went Top 5 in the UK charts, and drew acclaim from The Guardian, NME and many more, Joy set out to make an album that pushed her further both musically and personally.

Juniper is the result: a project defined by its depth and dynamism.

Written with a stripped-back approach and produced by long-time collaborators including Blue May (Kano, Jorja Smith), Tev’n (Stormzy) and Harvey Grant (Arlo Parks),

Juniper features standout guest appearances from Vince Staples on the incendiary ‘Pass The Salt’ and Kano on the bittersweet confessional ‘Mathematics’.

Crookes describes the record as “more nuanced” than Skin: “With Juniper, every situation is visceral and I’m very much in it. It’s me in the centre of it all.”

The title itself nods to resilience (an evergreen that thrives in harsh conditions) and the album dives deep into themes of body politics, mental health, queer love, anxiety, industry hypocrisy and the ecstasy (and terror) of falling in love.
Lead singles like ‘Pass The Salt’ and ‘I Know You’d Kill’ showcase Crookes’ lyrical agility – blending poetic detail with razor-sharp wit. Meanwhile, the euro-pop inspired ‘First Last Dance’ channels euphoric melodies to mask deep emotional struggle, and the cinematic ‘Perfect Crime’ sees Joy fully self-actualise in the style of a Western showdown.

On ‘Paris’, the closing track, Joy reflects on a formative queer relationship: “Something I feared so much finally, actually felt like love.” It’s a sentiment echoed across Juniper – a record that captures the beauty and brutality of emotional openness.

The album arrives after a period of personal upheaval for Crookes, including a mental health crisis that shadowed the album’s creation. “I was in the trenches,” she says. “But the studio became my solace. What you hear is live and direct from that time.” Despite the darkness, Juniper radiates warmth, levity, and life, powered by Crookes’ ever-restless creativity and artistic excellence. Ahead of her performance this weekend at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend event in Liverpool, followed by a slot at Glastonbury, Joy is pleased to announce a full UK & EU headline tour for the backend of the year.

In celebration of Juniper's release, Joy will head out to all major cities including Dublin, Manchester, Bristol and London where she’ll play the much coveted 02 Academy Brixton for the first time. See below for full routing and ticket info.

‘Skin’ is the debut album and hugely personal body of work from one of the UK’s boldest and brightest young talents, Joy Crookes. A collection of songs built and honed throughout her adolescence and into her early twenties, it weaves through topics such as mental health, relationships, and politics all with grace and sensitivity. Recorded between Abbey Road & Konk & produced by Blue May (Kano, Blood Orange), the end product is a debut record that is both perfectly of the moment, and entirely timeless.

Ungeschützt, vollkommen verwirklicht und ganz und gar sein Eigen - Wesley Josephs lang erwartetes Debütalbum zeigt den Sänger, Songwriter, Produzenten und Regisseur von seiner selbstbewusstesten und verletzlichsten Seite und bringt die vielen Facetten seines kreativen Lebensweges zum Ausdruck. Das Ergebnis ist ,Forever Ends Someday": 13 Tracks voller Selbstreflexion und weitreichender Realitätsflucht. Auf dem Danny Brown-Feature ,Peace of Mind" hingegen überwindet Joseph seine Ängste und liefert eine basslastige Hymne voller Selbstvertrauen und Zuversicht. Auf ,July" arbeitet Joseph mit Jorja Smith zusammen, und die beiden performen einen freudigen Rückblick, aufgenommen in ihrer Heimatstadt Walsall, in dem sie sich daran erinnern, wie weit sie gekommen sind und was sie alles verloren haben. Joseph nahm sich drei Jahre Zeit, um sich aus dem Rampenlicht zurückzuziehen und seine Geschichte zu finden. Er entschied sich dafür, der Ehrlichkeit seiner Kunst nachzugehen, anstatt aus seiner Karriere Kapital zu schlagen - mit Höhepunkten wie einem ausverkauften Headliner-Konzert im Londoner KOKO und einer ausverkauften Nordamerika-Tournee. ,Ich habe das Album einfach wie ein Gefäß behandelt und ständig Dinge aus meinem Leben hineingeworfen", sagt er. Der Titel ,Forever Ends Someday" bezieht sich auf die vergängliche Schönheit des gegenwärtigen Augenblicks - ,die Vorstellung, dass Dinge, wenn man jung ist, ewig währen, aber dann wird man erwachsen und erkennt, dass die Jugend nur geliehen ist", erklärt Joseph. Die Titel des Albums spiegeln ehrlich die menschlichen Erfahrungen wider, sowohl die hellen als auch die dunklen Seiten. Aufgenommen in London, Walsall, Los Angeles und ,auf halber Höhe eines Berges in der Schweiz", holte Joseph ein Kernteam von Mitarbeitern und Co-Produzenten an Bord, um seine Vision während der drei Jahre des Schreibens umzusetzen. Er arbeitete eng mit dem Komponisten Nicholas Jaar (The Weeknd, FKA Twigs), der mehrere Tracks mit seiner Sensibilität für Soundscapes bereicherte, dem Produzenten Harvey Dweller (Loyle Carner, Joy Crookes), dem für den Mercury Prize nominierten Tev'n (Rina Sawayama, SBTRKT), A. K. Paul (Nao, Fabiana Palladino), Al Shux (JAY Z, Kendrick Lamar, SZA), Ryan Raines (Paul McCartney, Dominic Fike) und dem Produzenten Romil Hemnani (Brockhampton) zusammen. Von Walsall in die Welt hinaus zeigt ,Forever Ends Someday", dass Josephs Vermächtnis gerade erst begonnen hat.

Multi platinum-selling musician and multi-instrumentalist Jamie Cullum today announces The Pianoman At Christmas - The Complete Edition. Due for release on 19th November via Island Records. The deluxe album completes last year’s critically acclaimed hit album The Pianoman At Christmas Part 1, with its Second Part - featuring 11 covers of classic Christmas songs, as well as two original songs, including lead single ‘Christmas Don’t Let Me Down’, out now.

Drawing from the past and inspired by the present, The Pianoman At Christmas - The Complete Edition sees Jamie team up with London jazz innovators Kansas Smitty’s, as well as composer and producer The Vernon Spring and acclaimed LA-based jazz singer Lady Blackbird to complete a piece of work that is imbued with seasonal sophistication. Alongside his two original tracks, Jamie breathes new life into classics such as ‘Winter Wonderland’, ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Frosty The Snowman’, ranging from ‘Amazing Grace’ to ‘Man With The Bag’ and ‘Sleigh Ride’. The Complete Edition will be released on double CD and double black vinyl formats, alongside a limited run of 180G Heavyweight coloured vinyl in red and gold.

Speaking on the release, Jamie said -

“I had a huge amount of fun creating part two of TPAC. Recorded live, all in the room together - it’s the party after the big show, with friends, drinks and some of the finest musicians on planet earth.”

Released almost a year to the day before The Complete Edition is due out, The Pianoman At Christmas featured 11 original songs played by 57 of Britain’s best musicians, recorded in Abbey Road’s famous Studio 2 and produced by Greg Wells whose The Greatest Showman soundtrack spent 28 weeks at number 1. The album sold over 37,000 copies, spending 6 weeks in the album chart and peaking at number 11. In December Jamie broke the Guinness World Record for the largest music lesson ever, when he held a virtual piano lesson for 2,282 people, teaching them the carol ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ with special guests Robbie Williams, Sigrid and Dodie.
With 10 million album sales and over 890 million streams to date, Jamie is a celebrated musician the world over with loyal fans in every corner of the globe. With a career spanning over 20 years, his legendary live shows have seen him perform and work alongside artists as diverse as Herbie Hancock, Pharrell Williams, Kendrick Lamar and IDLES - Jamie writing on the latter’s album Ultra Mono. The success of Jamie’s major label breakthrough, Twentysomething in 2003 and its follow up Catching Tales saw him nominated for a BRIT, Grammy and numerous other awards around the world. In 2020 he won an Ivor Novello Award for his track ‘Age of Anxiety’, taken from his acclaimed 9th studio album Taller. In addition to his enduringly successful recording career, Jamie has also established himself as a multi-award winning music broadcaster; his BBC Radio 2 show celebrated its 11th year on air this year.

With her debut album Black Acid Soul earning critical praise, Lady Blackbird is a revelatory new talent with music that transcends the jazz scene through which the LA-based artist is rooted. Reflecting influences as varied as Billie Holiday, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner and Chaka Khan, with critics drawing comparisons to Adele, Amy and Celeste, Lady Blackbird’s distinct and beguiling voice is not one to be missed.

UK band Kansas Smitty’s have developed a musical voice wholly unique from what’s happening around them. They are led by band leader and producer Giacomo Smith who's cinematic compositions feature on their releases, most recently 2021's acclaimed Things Happened Here for Berlin based label !K7. In 2015 they launched their own east London venue and bar, of the same name, which became one of the conception points for the current UK jazz boom.

Londoner Sam Beste aka The Vernon Spring is a polymath in music who has production, writing and performance credits as eclectic as Amy Winehouse, Matthew Herbert, Kano, Joy Crookes, Beth Orton, Blood Orange, Gabriels and MF DOOM. Since 2019 he has been making waves with solo project The Vernon Spring, which foregrounds his rare capacity to hold sophistication and simplicity in the same hands through highly intimate muted-piano compositions and improvisations.

The Blessed Madonna began with three magic words, scrawled in shoe polish on a broken - down box and hung on the wall at a small sweaty party: We Still Believe. “I think you have to give up completely to really understand what hope is. It was like 2011? I had spectacularly, monumentally failed. I left the label. I wasn’t DJing. I wasn’t putting out records. I was divorced and living on my Dad’s couch so naturally my friends and I decided to throw an illegal rave. We didn’t have any decorations, so I took a box and wrote, ‘We Still Believe’ on it. I needed to believe that something better was possible and that’s how it all started.” After years of $50 gigs, strung together by gas money and surfed couches, The Blessed Madonna cemented her reputation as a sublime technician behind the decks with a legacy of fluent and dynamic sets, spanning from disco to techno to house and back. One room sweatboxes, circus tents, theatres, massive festival stages and entire city blocks have all served as the canvas for her shows. After a jam packed 2023, from Glastonbury to Sonar to Boiler Room Bali, The Blessed Madonna has been filling the dance floor everywhere she goes and is now releasing her debut album.

Shelf Lives are an Electro-Bass Punk (a genre that probably doesn’t exist—but somehow makes perfect sense when you hear them). After years of creating, releasing, and caring-ish what people think, the band now operate with zero hesitation and total authenticity. The result of this controlled chaos is their debut album ‘hypernormaL’.

The 11-track album, produced by imdead, reveals that Shelf Lives are once again redefining the boundaries of modern punk and electronic music. It captures the duo at their most uncompromising — blistering, self-aware, and disturbingly danceable.  Just when you think you’ve figured them out, Shelf Lives grin, twist the dial, and push the needle into the red. 

The album sees the band collaborating with an enviable list of who’s who, from Danio (Fred Again, Joy Anonymous, Jelani Blackman) on 60K, to writing with Pat Alvarez (Blessed Madonna, Joy Crookes, Good Neighbours) and Lola Sam from Hot Wax playing bass on ‘like heR’. 

Shelf Lives are an Electro-Bass Punk (a genre that probably doesn’t exist—but somehow makes perfect sense when you hear them). After years of creating, releasing, and caring-ish what people think, the band now operate with zero hesitation and total authenticity. The result of this controlled chaos is their debut album ‘hypernormaL’.

The 11-track album, produced by imdead, reveals that Shelf Lives are once again redefining the boundaries of modern punk and electronic music. It captures the duo at their most uncompromising — blistering, self-aware, and disturbingly danceable.  Just when you think you’ve figured them out, Shelf Lives grin, twist the dial, and push the needle into the red. 

The album sees the band collaborating with an enviable list of who’s who, from Danio (Fred Again, Joy Anonymous, Jelani Blackman) on 60K, to writing with Pat Alvarez (Blessed Madonna, Joy Crookes, Good Neighbours) and Lola Sam from Hot Wax playing bass on ‘like heR’. 

First Word Records are proud to bring you 'Penny Ballads', a 5-track EP from Royce Wood Junior. Royce Wood Junior is a Grammy & Mercury Award-nominated musician, songwriter and record producer from London, currently based in Brighton. As a multi-instrumentalist, he's collaborated with a litany of brilliant artists over the years, such as Jamie Woon, Nao, Disclosure, Jessie Ware, Olivia Dean, Joy Crookes, Jamie Lidell and Jordan Rakei, additionally to touring with the likes of the legendary Thomas Dolby. He's released two acclaimed solo albums to date ('The Ashen Tang' in 2015, and 'No Two Blue Ticks' in 2021). 'Penny Ballads' demonstrates RWJ's varied talents, with a collection of alternative soul compositions, each one as unique as the next. It includes the first two singles, the Poplife-Prince era flavoured 'Go Get Your Money', and the double-time future funk adrenaline shot, 'Clean Up', along with three previously-unreleased tracks. 'Beretta' is low-slung soul funk, beginning with quirky squelchy synths, before the soulful lead vocal of feature artist Lucey Way breezes in to melt everyone's hearts. 'Things' sweeps in next, an infectiously soulful midtempo heavy soul bop, with an instant earwork of a hook, like a modern-day Steely Dan / Doobie Brothers, complete with a head-nodding string section to end the track. The collection concludes on a more melancholy downtempo tip with 'Rolling'; an almost-folktronic anthem, with a key refrain that wouldn't be out of place on a 70's Stevie piece. RWJ (aka Jim Wood) says of this project… "Back in the 17 and 1800's Troubadours and minstrels would go from Tavern to Tavern selling Penny Ballads, single sheets of music and lyrics written quickly and frivolously to make a quick buck.. It strikes me that we're in a similar phase in the way we value music in 2025. An old Penny Ballad was cheap and dog-eared, ink-smudged, sung aloud by firelight, Now songs live in the digital ether, dissolved in the air, a ghostly breath paid in micro cents. The new era of Penny Balladry is here, and weird. This EP is a snapshot of my writing over a two year period. Focussed on minimal recording styles, one mic on the drums, generally first or second takes on parts and vocals, I wanted the music to feel like small moments with lyrics that talk about the weird nuances of being alive as a latter stage human on the cusp of the Ai revolution. Culturally so evolved, but physiologically still just a bunch of mammals walking about with primitive fears and needs. Just trying to reconcile it all moment to moment…" Previous support for Royce's music has included Radio 1's Future Sounds, BBC 6 Music's New Music Fix, Annie Mac, Clara Amfo, Jo Whiley (BBC Radio 2), Mary Anne Hobbs, Jamz Supernova, Tom Robinson, Huw Stephens (BBC 6 Music), Zane Lowe and MistaJam. There have been sessions previously for the likes of Red Bull and press from Huck, Line of Best Fit, Clash, Aesthetica & DIY magazine. Entirely self-written and self-produced, this EP gives a solid taste of RWJ's talents. A deeply funky diverse set of music from an immensely talented individual. 'Penny Ballads' is due to be released on vinyl & digital, 24th October 2025. The vinyl version also includes an exclusive additional mix of the first single 'Go Get Your Money'. TRACKLIST: 01: Clean Up (EP Mix) 02: Go Get Your Money 03: Beretta (feat. Lucey Way) 04: Things 05: Rolling 06: Go Get Your Money (B-Sharp Mix) Deconstructed Mixes

Featuring the otherworldly vocals of the legendary jazz singer Norma Winstone whose vocals were recently sampled in Drake's 2023 chart topping single IDGAF (feat. Yeat) and Leo Taylor (Floating Points, Hot Chip, Joy Crookes) on drums, the EP is the amalgamation of Barrott's long term fascination with sunset music, and the ways the change of seasons impact the way we co-exist with the sun. As winter draws closer and we move on from the Autumn equinox to Winter solstice, Barrott's latest release captures the transformative yet paradoxical feeling of melancholy over the end of Summer and the start of winter while creating an eerie sensation of serenity.

The EP follows from the release of Barrott's critically acclaimed and deeply personal 2024 album Everything Changes, Nothing Ends.

The new EP sees Barrott return to his beloved sunset music, as he continues his eternal quest to find new ways to soundtrack this sacred Ibiza moment.



Crowned as the"master of sunset music"by Pitchfork, Barrott's new EP is filled with celestial grandeur that stops you in your tracks. A profound musical meditation and an homage to the sunsets of the Autumn months, the EP captures the sonic poetry of the changing skies and the seasons.

The haunting combination of Barrott's production & arrangement skills, Taylor's jazz drums and Winstone's endlessly ethereal vocals soar in a harmonious union across the title track of the EP while the openerI Am The Starssummons you in for a brief respite from the cacophony of the modern world. The wistful second trackMy Blue Heartlingers with you with its melancholic jazz horns swelling side by side with Winstone's vocals while the closing trackI Am The Airfloats through your ears with its sublime contemplativeness. I Am The Sun, You Are The Moonsees Barrott returning to his sonic ruminations on sunsets, however they are more profound and life affirming than ever.



"At the end of the summer, on a clear bright starry night I climbed to the top of a mountain in Ibiza with a pair of headphones and listened to these tracks and lost myself in the vastness of the night sky and the endlessness of Norma's voice. At that moment everything made sense in my world for the first time in a long while and it just felt right",Mark Barrott says.

"I was surprised and delighted to be asked to participate in this very musical project and to be given such a free hand. Trying to integrate the voice into what were already beautifully formed pieces was creatively very interesting", Norma Winstone says

First Word Records are proud to bring you 'Penny Ballads', a 5-track EP from Royce Wood Junior.

Royce Wood Junior is a Grammy & Mercury Award-nominated musician, songwriter and record producer from London, currently based in Brighton. As a multi-instrumentalist, he's collaborated with a litany of brilliant artists over the years, such as Jamie Woon, Nao, Disclosure, Jessie Ware, Olivia Dean, Joy Crookes, Jamie Lidell and Jordan Rakei, additionally to touring with the likes of the legendary Thomas Dolby. He's released two acclaimed solo albums to date ('The Ashen Tang' in 2015, and 'No Two Blue Ticks' in 2021).

'Penny Ballads' demonstrates RWJ's varied talents, with a collection of alternative soul compositions, each one as unique as the next. It includes the first two singles, the Poplife-Prince era flavoured 'Go Get Your Money', and the double-time future funk adrenaline shot, 'Clean Up', along with three previously-unreleased tracks. 'Beretta' is low-slung soul funk, beginning with quirky squelchy synths, before the soulful lead vocal of feature artist Lucey Way breezes in to melt everyone's hearts. 'Things' sweeps in next, an infectiously soulful midtempo heavy soul bop, with an instant earwork of a hook, like a modern-day Steely Dan / Doobie Brothers, complete with a head-nodding string section to end the track. The collection concludes on a more melancholy downtempo tip with 'Rolling'; an almost-folktronic anthem, with a key refrain that wouldn't be out of place on a 70's Stevie piece.

RWJ (aka Jim Wood) says of this project… "Back in the 17 and 1800's Troubadours and minstrels would go from Tavern to Tavern selling Penny Ballads, single sheets of music and lyrics written quickly and frivolously to make a quick buck.. It strikes me that we're in a similar phase in the way we value music in 2025. An old Penny Ballad was cheap and dog-eared, ink-smudged, sung aloud by firelight, Now songs live in the digital ether, dissolved in the air, a ghostly breath paid in micro cents. The new era of Penny Balladry is here, and weird.

This EP is a snapshot of my writing over a two year period. Focussed on minimal recording styles, one mic on the drums, generally first or second takes on parts and vocals, I wanted the music to feel like small moments with lyrics that talk about the weird nuances of being alive as a latter stage human on the cusp of the Ai revolution. Culturally so evolved, but physiologically still just a bunch of mammals walking about with primitive fears and needs. Just trying to reconcile it all moment to moment…"

Previous support for Royce's music has included Radio 1's Future Sounds, BBC 6 Music's New Music Fix, Annie Mac, Clara Amfo, Jo Whiley (BBC Radio 2), Mary Anne Hobbs, Jamz Supernova, Tom Robinson, Huw Stephens (BBC 6 Music), Zane Lowe and MistaJam. There have been sessions previously for the likes of Red Bull and press from Huck, Line of Best Fit, Clash, Aesthetica & DIY magazine.

Entirely self-written and self-produced, this EP gives a solid taste of RWJ's talents. A deeply funky diverse set of music from an immensely talented individual.

'Penny Ballads' is due to be released on vinyl & digital, 24th October 2025.

The vinyl version also includes an exclusive additional mix of the first single 'Go Get Your Money'.

Mit 'Under a Familiar Sun' veröffentlicht The Vernon Spring alias Sam Beste ein faszinierendes Album zwischen Jazz, Ambient, experimentellem Pop und elektronischem Songwriting. Beste, einst Pianist in Amy Winehouse’ Band und Kollaborateur von u. a. MF DOOM, Joy Crookes und Beth Orton, entfaltet hier ein vielschichtiges Werk voller emotionaler Tiefe und klanglicher Finesse.

Entstanden in seinem Heimstudio in Brighton, verarbeitet das Album persönliche Themen wie Vaterschaft, Verantwortung und Selbstverortung in einer instabilen Welt - getragen von Beste’s charakteristischem, improvisationsnahem Klavierspiel und feinfühliger Produktion. Mitwirkende wie Autor Max Porter (Grief is the Thing with Feathers), Cellistin Kate Ellis und die in Brooklyn lebende Künstlerin aden verleihen dem Album zusätzliche Tiefe.

Ein durchkomponiertes, atmosphärisches Werk mit klarer Handschrift - für Fans von Bon Iver, James Blake, Nils Frahm oder Moses Sumney.

"VOLUME 1" ist eine denkwürdige Einführung in die Welt von MRCY. Ihre Vision von Soul lässt sich von den Größen der Kindheit (SAM COOKE, MARVIN GAYE) bis hin zu Genre-verschmelzenden Modernisten wie KHRUANGBIN oder SAULT inspirieren - "it's like hearing a distant memory," sagt Barney, "but one that speaks to where you are now". Auf ihrem Debüt blickt der Sound von MRCY tiefer nach innen und weiter nach außen: Die Debüt-Single "Lorelei" war eine ätherische, jenseitige Geschichte über eine Liebe, die in einer Katastrophe enden sollte, während "Flowers In Mourning" Afrobeats und Northern Soul in einer ergreifenden Meditation über Familie und Verlust zusammenbrachte. Das Album wird von einer auffälligen, visuellen Ästhetik begleitet, die in Zusammenarbeit mit Harris Elliot entstand und KI, Adinkra-Symbolik und britische Ikonografie zu einem Look - und Sound - verbindet, der bereits unverkennbar MRCY ist. Auch wenn MRCY sich mit einer ausgereiften Vision präsentieren, haben sie auch hart daran arbeiten müssen. Barney, der inmitten der Schmelztiegel-Kultur von Huddersfield aufgewachsen ist, hat sich als einer der gefragtesten, eklektischsten jungen Produzenten Großbritanniens etabliert; von einem Ivor Novello Award für seine langjährige Zusammenarbeit mit Obongjayar bis zu Mercury-nominierten Künstlerinnen wie Joy Crookes und Olivia Dean. Der in Süd-London aufgewachsene Kojo verdiente sich seine Sporen in der Kirche und sang mit ebenso illustren einheimischen Künstlerinnen wie Cleo Sol und Little Simz. Nachdem sie sich während der Pandemie über Instagram kennengelernt hatten, trafen sich MRCY zwischen den Abriegelungen in Brixton, wodurch sich der Sound der Band - und ihre Verbundenheit - vertiefte. Und obwohl das soziale und politische Chaos unweigerlich in ihr kommendes Projekt einfließt, geht es bei MRCY auch um das Bedürfnis nach einer gemeinsamen Basis: universelle, aber höchst individuelle Erfahrungen mit Klasse, Gemeinschaft und der Qualitätsmusik, die gute Menschen schon immer zusammengebracht hat.

The Blessed Madonna began with three magic words, scrawled in shoe polish on a broken - down box and hung on the wall at a small sweaty party: We Still Believe. “I think you have to give up completely to really understand what hope is. It was like 2011? I had spectacularly, monumentally failed. I left the label. I wasn’t DJing. I wasn’t putting out records. I was divorced and living on my Dad’s couch so naturally my friends and I decided to throw an illegal rave. We didn’t have any decorations, so I took a box and wrote, ‘We Still Believe’ on it. I needed to believe that something better was possible and that’s how it all started.” After years of $50 gigs, strung together by gas money and surfed couches, The Blessed Madonna cemented her reputation as a sublime technician behind the decks with a legacy of fluent and dynamic sets, spanning from disco to techno to house and back. One room sweatboxes, circus tents, theatres, massive festival stages and entire city blocks have all served as the canvas for her shows. After a jam packed 2023, from Glastonbury to Sonar to Boiler Room Bali, The Blessed Madonna has been filling the dance floor everywhere she goes and is now releasing her debut album.

Thandii (aka Jessica Berry, Graham Godfrey) first made waves with their debut album A Beat To Make It Better in 2023. The album gained somewhat cult critical acclaim long after it’s release, with listeners luxuriating in the unusual sound collaged from offcuts of Soul, Lo-fi Hiphop & Psych. Thandii’s world comes bolstered by collaborations with esteemed artists such as Michael Kiwanuka, Inflo, SAULT, Joy Crookes, Jordan Rakei, and Little Simz. The duo’s sophomore offering comes in the form of two companion albums Dream With You & Come As You. The two albums make up a single conceptual statement celebrating dissonance, contradiction, polarity and opposition.

The pair believe that binary thinking has a lot to answer for in today’s world and is often used to divide us as a people. ‘We wanted to explore what it felt like to hold disparate notions in both hands whilst making the music. Starting with the title tracks, we explored the idea of unashamedly being your authentic self in every moment - this is admirable for those that can live their life in an uncompromising way. In contrast to that idea, we explored those moments where we perhaps wished we were more than our reality - a dreamed up, imagined self’. It’s no surprise that duality is central to what Thandii is all about with the pair co-writing, co-recording & co-producing from their seaside studio HaloHalo in Margate, Kent.

The albums each have a distinct flavour of their own. Dream With You is built on cassette-tape-driven lofi beats, art-pop melodies and soulful piano breaks. Whilst Come As You explores more experimental song-form that wouldn’t seem out of place on Tender Buttons - Broadcast or Dots And Loops - Stereolab. Jessica’s voice is the transcendent, ethereal form that shapeshifts between the realms of the two statements; dancing playfully through falsetto harmonies, confessional spoken word, detuned alter egos and haunting choirs.

Thandii (aka Jessica Berry, Graham Godfrey) first made waves with their debut album A Beat To Make It Better in 2023. The album gained somewhat cult critical acclaim long after its release, with listeners luxuriating in the unusual sound collaged from offcuts of Soul, Lo-fi Hiphop & Psych. Thandii’s world comes bolstered by collaborations with esteemed artists such as Michael Kiwanuka, Inflo, SAULT, Joy Crookes, Jordan Rakei, and Little Simz. The duo’s sophomore offering comes in the form of two companion albums Dream With You & Come As You. The two albums make up a single conceptual statement celebrating dissonance, contradiction, polarity and opposition.

The pair believe that binary thinking has a lot to answer for in today’s world and is often used to divide us as a people. ‘We wanted to explore what it felt like to hold disparate notions in both hands whilst making the music. Starting with the title tracks, we explored the idea of unashamedly being your authentic self in every moment - this is admirable for those that can live their life in an uncompromising way. In contrast to that idea, we explored those moments where we perhaps wished we were more than our reality - a dreamed up, imagined self’. It’s no surprise that duality is central to what Thandii is all about with the pair co-writing, co-recording & co-producing from their seaside studio HaloHalo in Margate, Kent.

The albums each have a distinct flavour of their own. Dream With You is built on cassette-tape-driven lofi beats, art-pop melodies and soulful piano breaks. Whilst Come As You explores more experimental song-form that wouldn’t seem out of place on Tender Buttons - Broadcast or Dots And Loops - Stereolab. Jessica’s voice is the transcendent, ethereal form that shapeshifts between the realms of the two statements; dancing playfully through falsetto harmonies, confessional spoken word, detuned alter egos and haunting choirs. Key collaborators on the albums include bass player Jonathan Harvey and pianist Steve Pringle, both members of Margate’s burgeoning Arts scene. Thandii escaped London nearly a decade ago, their sights set on creating a means for prolific expression, without the distractions that the city can bring. The albums find them in an exploratory stage, throwing paint at the canvas with joyful abandon, gifting themselves permission for uncensored expression. The LPs muse on relationships - romantic, platonic & familial - community, self-worth, self love, healing and boundaries, at times from differing perspectives. This contrast of opinion makes for rich listening throughout a vast emotional landscape

Emitting a soulful, nu-jazz sound that builds into an uplifting chorus refrain, "On My Way Up" is sonically inspired by the likes of Joy Crookes, Roy Hargrove and Leanne La Havas.

Hailing from Bristol, Cut Capers bring an elevating message and a big sound. The 4 piece horn-section blends with the lead vocal to create a textured juxtaposition rich in depth and layers. With infectious ear- worm melodies and warm vocal energy, Cut Capers deliver a feel-good summer hook that takes you from themes of reflection to new discoveries. With over 13 million streams across major streaming platforms, Cut Capers returned with their first release since their 2019 critically acclaimed album, Metropolis. A passionate and dedicated fanbase has
waited patiently, and the wait is over!

Von den Produzenten von Notting Hill und Bridget Jones’s Diary kommt eine kulturübergreifende romantische Komödie über die Suche nach der Liebe in der modernen Welt. Die unterschiedlichen Kulturen und Traditionen Londons und Lahores prallen in ”What’s Love Got To Do With It?” aufeinander - ein lustiges und bewegendes Fest der Liebe und Familie in all ihren Formen.

Zusätzlich zur Filmmusik hat Sawhney mit dem britisch-pakistanischen Grammy-Preisträger, Plattenproduzenten, DJ, Songwriter und Musiker Naughty Boy zusammengearbeitet, um drei Originalsongs für den Film zu schreiben. Nachho Gaao” und ”Apni Suno”, mit Musik und Text von Sawhney, sowie die Leadsingle des Soundtracks ”Mahi Sona” (auch bekannt als ”The Wedding Song”) mit dem legendären pakistanischen Sänger Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, der indischen Superstar-Sängerin Kanika Kapoor und der Emmy-nominierten Schauspielerin und Sängerin Lily James.

New London based quartet Qwalia, led by drummer Yusuf Ahmed, offer a plethora of influences whilst remaining resolutely itself. Assembled from musicians who play with David Byrne, Joy Crookes, Nubiyan Twist, Frank Ocean, Jordan Rakei, Sampha, Cat Stevens and more; Yusuf is joined by Tal Janes on guitars and vocals, Ben Reed on bass and keyboardist Joseph Costi. Qwalia’s debut album ‘Sound And Reason’ is set for release by Alberts Favourites on 24th March 2023.
The name Qwalia stems from the same sounding word Qualia, a philosophy of mind with the property of being an ineffable experience. Qwalia’s music is an instinctive aural expression of how things seemed in the moment of creation.
In April ‘21, Qwalia spent two days recording completely improvised music at the Fish Factory in North West London. There was no plan or preconceived idea of what the music should sound like or what was going to happen.
“We set up altogether in one room, dimmed the lights, pressed record and just played,” says Yusuf. “We came away with over 13 hours of music, which was consolidated into three albums worth of material. The final record is mainly a result of pulling faders up or down to create space and structure out of what was already there from the live recording. The production process felt akin to a sculptor chipping away excess stone to reveal a statue that was already there, and occasionally putting some makeup on it!”
The band members are Pakistani, Italian, Venezuelan, Jewish and English. A reflection of the fact that cultural categories are infinite; Qwalia’s music unconsciously explores identity, exposing what this can mean. Or perhaps that it doesn’t mean anything at all.
Early support from Mary Anne Hobbs and Gilles Peterson, support to come from Huey Morgan, Cerys Matthews.