– GUERRILLA WARFARE –

Finally!

In 2017, Steam Down sold out a headline show at Jazz Café, London. Since then, they’ve played to rapturous audiences at Gilles Peterson’s We Out Here Festival, Love Supreme and Glastonbury’s Park Stage.

And now, finally, they release their first single Free My Skin with a highly anticipated EP to follow in 2020.

The band, which comprises of eight core members led by multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Ahnansé, is also an artist collective, weekly event and music community based in Deptford, South-East London.

And the video (below) which accompanies their debut track – shot at one such jam session – really captures their energy and positivity.

The song itself is a mix of afrobeat rhythms and funky horns and I love the way both play with where they accent on the beat.

But, on top of that, I love the break-down two-thirds of the way in, where the MC in residence spits bars in such a way that reminds me of this bloke, quoted on Sky Sports outside Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium this week:

As he would say… “energy!”

Free My Skin is out now through Universal Records.

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

J.LAMOTTA: BACK IN TOWN
TONI SAUNA: TRIPPIN’
Y LA BAMBA: GABRIEL
MICHAEL KIWANUKA: LIGHT

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –