Today, Nubiyan Twist release 'Flow,' a reflective, determined neo-soul gem featuring guest vocals from the brilliant Cherise (Jazz FM Vocalist Of The Year 2019). The track ushers in the band's new album Freedom Fables, out via Strut Records on 12th March 2021.
Written around an original loping beat created by Tom Excell alongside some off-kilter keyboard lines, 'Flow' was first performed on tour during 2019 and honed in the studio with Cherise. The track finds her fighting life's pressures and turning towards mindfulness and 'letting loose' to escape the ebb and flow of anxiety: "Working, grinding, got a unique path I'm finding, gotta let it flow...", an apt soundtrack too for the mental marathon of our current times.
The track contributes to the many personal journeys and parables for modern life featured on Freedom Fables, the follow-up to Nubiyan Twist's acclaimed Jungle Run album from 2019, the most accomplished set yet by the Leeds / London collective, effortlessly melding soul, jazz and global styles with top level musicianship and lyrics.
"Freedom Fables' reflects on the power of narratives. Each vocalist on this record explores their own memoirs, a freedom of expression underpinning our belief that music is the ultimate narrative for unity," explains Tom Excell. "The record references a lot of music that we all loved during our formative years; you can hear touches of broken beat, blunted hip hop, highlife, Latin, jazz and UK soul running through the tracks."
The reflective, wistful first single '24-7' featuring Ego Ella May, the boisterous follow-up 'Tittle Tattle' featuring Cherise and the Afro blast 'If I Know' featuring K.O.G. have all been added to the BBC 6Music playlist after the band were championed by Mary Anne Hobbs.
Vocalist Nick Richards teams up with UK jazz hero Soweto Kinch on a further single, the determined 'Buckle Up' as they aim to "find the door to peace" among life's challenges.
Richards continues the "dust yourself off and find hope" theme on the rousing 'Wipe Away Tears'; Ghanaian legend Pat Thomas voices a gorgeous Accra meets London highlife jam, 'Ma Wonka' and massive new vocal talent Ria Moran (a contemporary from the band's time at Leeds College Of Music) steps up on the sensual 'Morning Light' tackling delicate complexities of the heart. Cherise returns on the epic Brazilian jazz groover, 'Keeper'.
Shaping up to be a contemporary classic, Freedom Fables is set to cement Nubiyan Twist's position as one of the UK's most versatile soulful collectives of the current generation. The album was produced by Tom Excell at Henwood Studios in Oxfordshire and artwork comes courtesy of Emma Rodriguez aka Mooncrab.
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