TAKEN FROM THEIR UPCOMING FOURTH STUDIO ALBUM
“Few acts encapsulate the breadth of what’s been happening in London’s jazz and neo-soul worlds as well as Blue Lab Beats” – Loud & Quiet
“Fresh innovation..the duo’s broadest statement yet” – CLASH
“Their sound is a shining example of the youth-driven, boundary-breaking creativity that characterises the blossoming scene which is dominating the capital” – DUMMY
GRAMMY award winning duo Blue Lab Beats present their brand new single, “Never Doubt“, out now on Blue Note/Universal Music Canada. One of the fastest-rising production duos in the world right now, Blue Lab Beats’ much-anticipated return is the first single to be taken from their fourth studio album, and the start of a compelling new era for the immensely talented act.
The story of “Never Doubt” starts with a bump in the road, as a producer’s nightmare was realized and NK-OK’s, one half of Blue Lab Beats, computer crashed and the demo was lost. When a challenge such as this arises, Blue Lab Beats (made up of producer NK-OK and multi-instrumentalist Mr DM) are not the type to back down, and the duo saw this as an opportunity to improve on the original demo, embracing it with open arms, and reworking the demo from scratch. Adding the esteemed saxophonist Kaidi Akinnibi, as well as new harmonic and rhythmic ideas, the duo sent ‘Never Doubt’ soaring to heights they couldn’t have imagined before.
“Never Doubt” is Blue Lab Beats at their most purposeful; coated in soul, seeping in hip-hop influences and with jazztronica running through its veins, they have truly arrived on this record. Blue Lab Beats elaborate, “’Never Doubt’ is an immersive ode to continuance and leaning into all that is yet to be. Kaidi Akinnibi graced the track with his soprano sax and when we were finished with it, it felt like a completely different song. It made us realise to never doubt our potential for possibly enhancing what we did on the original demo. This was quite a lesson for us and we learnt when life offers you a challenge, sometimes embrace it, it might be really difficult and just from trying you could potentially achieve a better result”.
Starting out as bedroom producers, remixing tracks for A-listers such as Dua Lipa and Rag’N’Bone Man, on to supporting the likes of Roy Ayers and Thundercat, and producing on Kojey Radical’s critically-acclaimed Reason To Smile, Blue Lab Beats have been dreamed big from the beginning. Their third studio album Motherland Journey celebrates pushing boundaries, taking risks and overcoming adversity. The LP features the vocals from none other than the late Fela Kuti, as well as one of a kind artists Tiana Major9, Ghetto Boy, Ego Ella May, Kofi Stone, and Pip Millet. The band’s 2018 debut album XOver is brimming with hits, and boasts 10 million streams on their acclaimed track “Pineapple”.
With over 50 million streams, Blue Lab Beats recently won a GRAMMY for their production on Angelique Kidjo’s track “Fired Up” on her Mother Nature LP, as well as a Jazz FM Innovation Award and a MOBO nomination. Playing 2 electrifying sets at Glastonbury Festival this year, playing at Blue Note in Tokyo, Love Supreme just outside of Tokyo, 3 shows at Jazzaladia Festival in Spain, a sold out show at the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room (where they performed a stunning set with 12 string players, a full band and guest vocalists), supporting Robert Glasper at Jazz A Vienne and straight on to both Montreux Jazz Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival (with the latter 3 shows all in the space of 3 days) and their last show of the year being at the legendary KOKO for Global Soul Radio on December 3rd, Blue Lab Beats are showing no signs of slowing down.
This was quite a lesson for us & we learnt when life offers you a challenge, sometimes embrace that it might be really difficult and just from trying you could potentially achieve a better result than what you first came with. This is very much why we gave this song the title, “Never Doubt“.
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