SUGARCANE – “SHAMBALA MESS”
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE MUSIC PREMIERE
Sugarcane’s hybrid sound updates vintage bossa nova and calypso for twenty-first century London. With one British parent and one from the Caribbean, it’s not surprising that Robin French’s music is a post-Colonial jumble. On new single, “Shambala Mess”, the influences gather to make a ferocious storm of Bahian drumming, French chansons, Trinidadian steel pan, and jet-black British indie.
RobinΒ honed his songwriting craft as the bassist of Mr. Hudson and the Library, who supported such heavyweights asΒ Amy Winehouse,Β The PoliceΒ andΒ Kanye West. In the years after, he’s had huge success as a scriptwriter – creating and writing five series of the award winningΒ BBC1/Netflix sitcom CuckooΒ and writing plays for the RSC, The Royal Court and The National.
Joining him in Sugarcane areΒ SiΓ’nΒ HerbertΒ (Steel Pan, Flute, BVs),Β Teddy Niesyto-BameΒ (percussion, BVs) and top Brazilian rhythm section – drummerΒ Xande OlivieraΒ and double bassistΒ Klaus StahrΒ (Captain Ska).
Sugarcane’s debut EP, featuring the actressΒ Antonia Thomas,Β was released in August 2018 to considerable acclaim. Antonia isΒ one of the UK’s brightest acting talents, best known as Aisha from theΒ BAFTAΒ award-winningΒ MisfitsΒ and Evie in theΒ NetflixΒ comedy Lovesick.
Lead single “One Specific Thing” has currently notched up overΒ 95K listens on Spotify. The band were featured as a double page spread in theΒ Evening Standard, their singles were premiered onΒ The Line of Best Fit,Β Notion MagazineΒ andΒ Aesthetic Magazine.Β They were twice featured onΒ BBC IntroducingΒ in the West Midlands, and subsequently selected for theΒ BBC Introducing Mixtape. They were longlisted forΒ Glastonbury Emerging Acts 2019.
Artist Quote
“I love getting lost in the pure bacchanalia of a good English festival – but returning to normal life can be challenging. Shambala Mess is about disconnection in a post-festival funk. I love the fire that our Brazilian drummer Xande throws on this track.”
Sugarcane
[Single]
(Independent)
Release Date: August 30, 2019
ArtistΒ Links
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