‘Close But Not Quite’ EP Cuts Across 5 Tracks W/ Sampha, Giggs, Obongjayar & More
As things currently stand in the UK scene, everything is for the taking and everything is for the making. So if you’ve got the kind of credentials that Richard Russell, boss of independent powerhouse XL recordings has, then why not use it and get a bunch of heads together in studio and just record everything?
After months and months of murmurs from secret studio sessions in his west London recording studio ‘The Copper House, Richard Russell has finally revealed the first EP from ‘Everything Is Recorded’. The collaborative project brings together a versatile and entirely unique group of vocalists and musicians together – to write, record and jam together and create experimental new music. To be released in stages, the first recordings were debuted today as a 5 track EP ‘Close But Not Quite’.
It’s a debut statement from Everything Is Recorded, and as a first look gives a strong snapshot of exactly why experimentation is the true element in creating electrifying collaborations. Featuring a selection of artists including Sampha, Giggs, Obongjayar, Tic, Warren Ellis, Infinite, Mela Murder, Green Gartside and Baluji Shrivastav – ‘Close But Not Quite’ demands your unequivocal curiosity.
Opening with the title track of the EP, ‘Close But Not Quite’, Sampha is paired up with sampled vocals from Curtis Mayfield’s 1970 ‘The Makings Of You’. Previously previewed in a live session at Reprezent radio, the final recorded version of ‘Close But Not Quite’ gives glowing justice to Mayfield’s legacy as his words are recited alongside the yearning soul of Sampha’s lyrics.
Combining two more wordsmiths from different generations, Richard Russell revisits a cut he produced for Gil-Scott Heron in 2010 – ‘Me and The Devil. Giggs and Gil Scott-Heron, give life to their gritty Peckham and Harlem roots, bristling together on ‘Early This Morning’, a track that juxtaposes Giggs bars with Gil’s prose.
On ‘Washed Up On The Shore’ yet again another rising wordsmith cuts his cloth with a legendary collaborator, resulting in a thundering track featuring Obongjayar and Warren Ellis. ‘D’elusion’ goes stateside to Staten Island and back again to West London bringing together Infinite and Mela Murder on lead and Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside on backing vocals.
‘Close But Not Quite’ is the first of several Everything Is Recorded releases due this year, and once you sample this, we can safely bet you’ll want to sample more.
1. Close But Not Quite feat. Sampha
2. Early This Morning feat. Giggs
3. Washed Up The Shore feat. Obongjayar and Warren Ellis
4. D’elusion feat. Infinite, Mela Murder and Green Gartside
5. The Rhythm Of Life And Death
