*WHITE LABEL PROMO*
Stuart McCallum
Album Title: City
Release Date: 28th August 2015
Naim Jazz Records (naimcd219)
Format: CD + 180gm LP + Digital
www.naimjazz.com
The beautiful ambient-electronica-jazz soundscape City is the new album from
Manchester guitarist and composer Stuart McCallum and his second studio album
for Naim. City features a handful of seasoned musicians including McCallum on
guitars, Robin Mullarkey, bass (ESKA, Roisin Murphy), Sean Foran (Trichotomy),
Rhodes and Richard Spaven (Flying Lotus, José James) drums, synths and electronics.
Violinist Emma Sweeney guests on one track, Trio Seven. The album also features
guest vocalists on four tracks, JP Cooper (newly signed to Island Records), Sharlene
Hector (Basement Jaxx), Fridolijn Van Poll and Sophie Barker (Zero 7).
For his new album, City, McCallum steps even further into the world of electronica,
whilst still maintaining that magical combination of both acoustic and electronic
instruments that gives his music such a distinctive sound. However, two things make
City stand out from his previous work. First, the addition of vocals and second, the
decision to bring in London based drummer and producer, Richard Spaven, who he
met during his time playing with Cinematic Orchestra, not only to perform, but to cowrite and produce the album (all tracks are co-written by McCallum and Spaven
apart from City).
Key tracks on the album include the evocative City; sampled extracts of JP Cooper's
'Something You Can't Have' play like glimpses of a city snatched from a car window.
North Star, featuring Sharlene Hector, was written the old fashioned way, after
studio computers decided to take an unscheduled rest. Effergy is simply sublime, an
ambient meditation with McCallum's guitar hinting at something darker beneath the
surface, with haunting vocal textures by Fridolijn Van Poll, while Said and Done
features the otherworldly vocals of Zero 7's Sophie Barker.
Stuart McCallum's music has always thrived in that beautiful space where genres
blur. With a wide range of influences from Machinedrum, Lau and Martin Simpson to
Debussy, Taylor McFerrin and Burial, it's not difficult to see how this has come
about. His 2011 Naim debut, Distilled, was a series of beautiful instrumental
soundscapes and glorious melodies that owed as much to dance music as it did to
jazz. Since then he has been busy with a wide range of other projects, including
several collaborations with British artist Linder, scoring music for the Northern Ballet
and working in an acoustic duo setting with Mike Walker.
Spaven has played with a host of artists, including 4hero, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Flying
For further information, images, interviews please contact Siân Williams at
Riotsquad Publicity on 020 7223 7441 or email
sian@riotsquadpublicity.com
*WHITE LABEL PROMO*
Lotus, Gregory Porter, José James and Robert Mitchell. His production style lies
somewhere between the realms jazz and electronica and subtly bridges the gap
between these two worlds using grooves that blend contemporary jazz and bassheavy downtempo electronics. The melodies and layered harmonies from
McCallum's guitar, as well as synth pads and bass, are all driven by Spaven's hypnotic
grooves and provide the perfect foil for McCallum's often delicate and captivating
sound.
Live Dates include:
July 23 - Jazz Refreshed, LONDON
Aug 4 - RNCM, MANCHESTER - official album launch
Aug 19 - Matt & Phreds, MANCHESTER
Sept 24 - Grumbles, STAFFORD
Oct 7 - Lescar, SHEFFIELD
Oct 8 - Mash Guru, MACCLESFIELD
Oct 9 - Cafe Lento, LEEDS
Oct 10 - Zeferellis, AMBLESIDE
Oct 11 - Marsden Jazz Festival, WEST YORKS
Track listing:
1. City (feat. JP Cooper)
2. Inhale
3. North Star (feat. Sharlene Hector)
4. T-Onics
5. Effergy (feat. Fridolijn Van Poll)
6. Trio Seven (feat. Emma Sweeney)
7. Mk II
8. Said And Done (feat. Sophie Barker)
stuartmccallum.com
Naim Jazz Records was founded in 2009 in order to provide a platform for deserving British jazz talent.
In dedicating itself to artistic freedom and superb technical and creative quality, Naim Jazz has built a
diverse and exciting roster including Neil Cowley Trio, Empirical, Kairos 4tet, Get The Blessing, Troyka
and 2013 MOBO winners Sons Of Kemet.
www.naimjazz.com
Naim Hi Definition: Listen to this album as the artist intended, by downloading it in 24bit 44.1khz
WAV, FLAC and Apple Lossless from the Naim Hi Def Download Store, one of the world’s first
independent label websites to sell fully uncompressed music. www.naimlabel.com
For further information, images, interviews please contact Siân Williams at
Riotsquad Publicity on 020 7223 7441 or email
sian@riotsquadpublicity.com