Author: Lucia

Greentea Peng is back with her first single of 2021 “Nah It Ain’t The Same”, which also arrives as the first taster of her highly-anticipated debut album MAN MADE. “Nah It Ain’t The Same” follows December 2020’s “Spells“, and features production from Earbuds (“Revolution”, “Hu Man”).

Greentea Peng revealed via Instagram that the new single is the first track to be lifted from her debut album MAN MADE. The new single is accompanied by a video directed by Machine Operated.

Greentea Peng writes of her album on Instagram, “Thank you to everyone who helped bring this together. It’s been a real process forming this album, a real trip. I’m so excited to begin this rollout, I have sooooo much music/ energy to engulf you with its wild. But I’ll start with this. Hope you enjoy it.

Deliberations of a (hu) man subject to the pendulum swing, a reflection of my utter confusion and innermost conflicts/contradictions amidst these shifting paradigms. Always LOVE, always mushrooms. PEACE.”

Bakar returns with his first new music in over a year. The London artist has releases a new single./video for “1st Time.” Bakar continues to work on a new album, the follow up to Badkid, his 2018 debut album, will be released in 2021. The “1st Time” is accompanied by a video by director Hector Dockrill, famed for his work with Jorja Smith, Ray BLK, and Skepta among others. Produced by Bakar and longtime collaborator Zach Nahome, “1st Time” is set to build on the global success of 2019’s Will You Be My Yellow? EP and its standout sleeper hit “Hell N Back.”

Much of Bakar’s music pays tribute to classic songwriting, full of warmth and wordplay. However, Bakar’s is an undeniably contemporary take, in part informed by his first-generation British experience (“I make black music. We’re hip hop kids – everything comes from that place”) and a network of likeminded global collaborators and peers: whether collaborating with Kenny Beats, Dominic Fike and BENEE or absorbing knowledge from the likes of Skepta, A$AP Mob or Virgil Abloh. In contrast, he hasn’t had a phone for two years so he can always be focused on songwriting rather than social media, instead of spending his time writing songs on the move, whether on the tube or walking the streets. “1st Time” is a perfect example of his unique approach: bursting with originality and uninhibited by nostalgia.

A few months ago, LA musician Kelsey Lu put “Morning Dew” out into the world — the first single since the release of their debut album BLOOD over a year prior. Featuring Isaiah Barr from Onyx Collective on the saxophone, and originally written while Lu was living in an old leather factory in New Jersey, the beautiful song is apparently one of their all-time-favourites.

Last week, Lu shared a 360 degree projecttied to the song, featuring three American Sign Language speakers — Leila Hanaumi, Natasha Ofiliand Joey Antonio— translating its lyrics. Today, we’re shifting focus to Lu’s physical interpretation of “Morning Dew” in a solo performance shot in London by Harry Wheeler, No Tricks and Chris Alborano. The result, which we’re premiering below, is an intimate portrayal of Lu cloaked in soft, warm lighting that ebbs and flows with their expressive movements. Dressed in a ruched look and a pair of thigh-high boots, Lu spins to the music, hypnotic and free.

“There are many versions of oneself, multi-dimensional universes inside of your body and yet, only one You,” Lu says of the video. “If you wander inside that place, what can you find? Star Ancestors. Flowing through you, not new information, but memories. Following cosmic guidance.”