Hip-Hop News

2020 was supposed to be Joel Wästberg’s big year. Still riding high from the
release of his second album as sir Was - 2019’s ‘Holding On To A Dream’ -
the Swedish multi-instrumentalist was booked to open for Little Dragon
across Europe and the US. When the tour was cancelled due to COVID, he
decided to channel all his energies into writing new music instead, but in
August of 2020, he received some life-changing news. Tests revealed he
carried the gene for a rare, hereditary condition causing multiple strokes. “At
first I got very sad and scared,” says Joel of the devastating diagnosis. “But
at the same time, it was like all the other worries I carried suddenly didn’t
matter. I just got this very intense feeling of being alive.” This dichotomy lies
at the heart of his beautifully bittersweet third album.
Meditating on love, growth, self-acceptance, forgiveness, mortality and the
passing of time, ‘Let The Morning Come’, which arrives self-produced by
Joel, contains his most candid writing to date. And yet, for all the heartache
that comes with being cruelly confronted with one’s own mortality, the
prevailing impression Wästberg leaves listeners with is one of hope, resulting
in a collection that is life-affirming in the very truest sense.
The new record is the latest step in his evolution as an artist renowned for
conjuring dreamy melodies from unconventional arrangements. Drawing on
the luxurious sounds of Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece ‘What’s Going On’, and
utilising an eclectic palette that encompasses complex polyrhythms,
Medieval recorder harmonies and the languid sigh of a second hand
Hammond organ, Wästberg sought to ‘condense’ his songwriting, with the
aim of evoking the immediacy of the music of his youth.
Lyrically too, time is of the essence, as displayed in song titles like ‘Waiting
For The Weekend’, ‘Before The Morning Comes’, ‘I Don’t Think We Should
Wait’ and ‘Time To Let It Out.’ This palpable sense of a race against time is
heightened by the fact he suffered a stroke in January of this year, when the
album was “99% complete.” Now thankfully recovered, the experience has
only strengthened his resolve to grasp every possible opportunity and to live
life authentically and without fear, ideas which ultimately permeate the
album.
sir Was, praised initially by Stones Throw Records founder Peanut Butter
Wolf, has received support around the world with multiple playlists on BBC 6
Music, plays on BBC Radio 1, KCRW, Radio Nova, Radio Eins and more.
Alongside this, he has performed and collaborated with Little Dragon,
Efterklang’s Clasper Clausen, Falle Nioke (on the recent collaborative
‘Marasi’ EP) and Junip, as well as performing at Eurosonic, Mad Cool and
Benicassim Festivals.

-Features never before heard remixes by Mono/Poly, Drumetrics, and The Heliocentrics previously available on digital formats only. -High quality deluxe vinyl pressing at 45rpm for optimum clarity and volume. The Gaslamp Killer "In The Dark" 12" Remix EP featuring never before heard remixes by Mono/Poly, Drumetrics, and The Heliocentrics, previously available on digital formats only. Celebrating the 10yr anniversary of his debut album Breakthrough, originally released on September 18, 2012. The Gaslamp Killer's "In The Dark" is one of the stand out tracks on the album on its own, never before released as a single + these remixes will blow your mind! High quality deluxe vinyl pressing at 45rpm for optimum clarity and volume.

The fourth Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan album, The Nation's Most Central Location, will be released on 19th May 2023. This album sees Gordon Chapman-Fox (the man behind Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan) explore the north-south divide and reflect on 40 years of broken 'levelling up' promises.

With eight tracks across 40 minutes, the album offers Gordon's usual mix of mournful remorse and upbeat optimism. By now, however, there’s an underlying anger which burns through tracks such as London's Moving Our Way and A Brighter And More Prosperous Future.