“We were trying to get the lyrics from him for ‘All Around The World’,” recalls Alex, “and even Desiigner doesn’t know what it was that he sang on the record, because he didn’t write it down and was just in the moment.” The result, ‘All Around the World’, is a thrilling highlight on an ever-surprising debut album, recorded alongside an extraordinarily diverse cast-list: ranging from Damon Albarn, Christine & The Queens and Charli XCX to A$AP Rocky, Jamie Lidell, A. K. Paul, and affiliates of Alex’s own Anchor Point family (like Nao, Bonzai and Tom Tripp). In and amongst all that, musically you’re as likely to find Prince-style wired funk sitting next to trap as you are tropical-inflected house and acoustic balladry. It’s singularly Mura Masa’s vision of what pop music (and modern British culture) should look like in 2017. Even the artwork rejects the idea of running to the page, or living in a box.
‘All Around The World’ joins acclaimed early singles ‘Firefly’, ‘What If I Go?’, ‘Love$ick’ and ‘1 Night’, on a record which captures – says Alex - “the confusion and chaos of being 20 and living in London for the first time.” The trial and errors of youth are all here, but drawn together by the importance of togetherness, and the challenge to connect (however isolated your upbringing, messy your love life, or busy your city). Digging into a dizzying array of musical subcultures, at the centre of it all is a young Guernsey singer and producer barely out of his teens, whose hard work and innate curiosity has led to the point of curating an album alongside lifelong heroes, cult figures, and emerging talent. The results are a work of coherence, variety, and vitality – it is, quite simply, ‘Mura Masa’.
Mura Masa – ‘Mura Masa’
1. Messy Love
2. Nuggets (feat. Bonzai)
3. Love$ick (feat. A$AP Rocky)
4. 1 Night (feat. Charli XCX)
5. All Around The World (feat. Desiigner)
6. Give Me The Ground
7. What If I Go (feat. Bonzai)
8. Firefly (feat. Nao)
9. NOTHING ELSE! (feat. Jamie Lidell)
10. helpline (feat. Tom Tripp)
11. Second 2 None (feat. Christine & The Queens)
12. Who Is It Gonna B (feat. A. K. Paul)
13. Blu (feat. Damon Albarn)
LIVE DATES:
27.05 Love Saves The Day, Bristol
29.05 Radio 1 Big Weekend, Hull
03.06 Field Day, London
10.06 Wildlife Festival, Brighton
11.06 Parklife Festival, Manchester
25.08 Reading Festival, Reading
26.08 Leeds Festival, Leeds
18.10 O2 Academy, Bristol
19.10 O2 Academy, Brixton
21.10 The Warehouse Project, Manchester