NEW MUSIC: FT. Self Esteem, Falle Nioke & Ghost Culture, studio20, Frost & Rudie Edwards
New tracks from the most musically productive county in the country right now, writes Rob Hakimian
We have added all tracks to the ‘cene #KeepitKent Spotify Playlist HERE
Self Esteem - Prioritise Pleasure
Instagram: @selfesteemselfesteem
Songs about self-care and self-love have become more common of late, but none have landed as earth-shatteringly as Self Esteem’s Prioritise Pleasure. The title track for her new album, due out in October, pairs galloping tribal drums with epic shards of treated guitar and uplifting choral vocals. Add to this Rebecca Lucy Taylor’s irrepressible personality and the song’s a winner on an emotional level as well as a musical one. This is underscored as she delivers a call and response with the choir where she lists the things that are “just for me”, bombastically espousing on the joys of shaving her pussy, unfollowing people, sleeping in, sexting, and much more.
The only thing that could make the song even better is a massive video, which she duly provides. In tribute to Madonna’s Blonde Ambition tour, she and a group of snazzily clad dancers shimmy their way through the song, adding even more emphasis to this unignorable banger.
Falle Nioke & Ghost Culture - Leywole
Instagram: @falle_nioke / @ghostculture
Margate-based West African transplant Falle Nioke has already captivated this year with his Marasi EP, a collaboration with sir Was. However, he’s not ready to stop, and is now linking up again with fellow Margate resident Ghost Culture for an EP called Badiare, which follows up their previous collaborative EP, Youkounkoun.
Although it doesn’t drop until November, they’ve teased it with the quaking and ultracool lead single Leywole. The title means ‘whatever’ in one of the many languages that Nioke speaks, and that attitude of insouciance is ripe through the song. Combining deep bass, glistening electronics, and textural thumb piano, the stage is set for Nioke, who decides not to sing (mostly) but instead deliver a conversational, near-rap vocal delivery. Even though the vast majority of us won’t understand what he’s saying, the production and his delivery convey the mood perfectly: just kick back, relax and appreciate life.
studio20 - Wind Turbine
Instagram: @studio20___
There’s scant information about studio20 available – he even likes to keep his face hidden in videos – but his Spotify bio reliably informs us that he creates music “out of an off-grid 50 year old vintage Caravan in rural Kent.” That both makes sense with his tactile, purposefully-messy productions, and makes it even more impressive.
Wind Turbine, the second single released from the project, makes use of percussive and electronic tones that sound like pots and pans rattling around the makeshift studio, smoothed over with layers of icy synth. It’s a perfectly crackling sound to back up studio20’s anguished sing-speaking, a sort of South England version of Soundcloud rap, where he admits to feeling like he’s stuck in a wind turbine and is devoid of feeling. On initial listens and views of the video, you might not initially realise just how tender and vulnerable this song is, but once you get your mind inside studio20’s unique sound world, the depth of feeling is undeniable.
FROST - 0oo0oo0o clave A / 00o00o0 clave B
Instagram: @dalefrostmusic
FROST, aka Tonbridge-based drummer and producer Dale Frost, has an almost-scientific way of approaching music. He has an appreciation of polyrhythm and space, and the way they interact with each other. He’s also dedicated to exploring these concepts to the fullest, and over the course of the 2021 he’s going to release 10 songs, divided into five pairs, in combination called the Perm Octo Clave Induction Set.
The first couplet 0oo0oo0o clave A / 00o00o0 clave B have just dropped, and you can head to his Bandcamp page to read a detailed and eloquent account of their creation and intent. For the layman, it’s hard to put a finger on what makes them so addictive; perhaps to many they just sound like glitching computers or a drum kit slowly tumbling down a set of stairs. But, put yourself in the right mindset, and there’s something undeniably hypnotic and pleasantly mind-numbing in this precision-based production.
Rudie Edwards - Forgetting
Instagram: @rudieedwards
Singer-songwriter Rude Edwards is building up to the release of her debut EP, Worst Ways, later this year through the world renowned Atlantic Records, and has said that her youth and upbringing in Dover is a large inspiration for it.
The latest single from it is called Forgetting, a song that dwells in the past, lingering on a painful memory that has not lost its sting. A song that reveals the full sweep of her abilities, Forgetting begins as a spare, guitar-led song, but it soon builds to an artful gospel-adjacent sound, powered by Edwards’ mighty voice and the emotion she manages to convey in her words. Regret and remorse might be the feelings that she’s singing about, but in the sheer humanity she puts on display both lyrically and vocally it becomes a song of redemption and, ultimately, hard earned freedom.