funk – SCOOPE

Growing into Community with Cross The Tracks

photo credit Ellie Koepke

“Londoners aren’t unfriendly; they’re just cold” — overheard while wandering between the food stalls and the main stage at Cross The Tracks 2026. Beneath the heatwave, the comment floated through Brockwell Park half jokingly, half truthfully, as festival goers searched for shade and shared drinks under London’s unexpectedly bright sun.

But it was not only the warmth that defined the thousands gathered at Brixton’s historical music mecca. There was a noticeable shift this year. We are used to the platter of rising stars and established names that Cross The Tracks brings together year after year. Yet somehow, this edition felt more intentional and more communal. Maybe it was in the way people lingered between sets, or how strangers struck up conversations while sitting cross legged on the grass. For a festival devoted to a grassroots, home grown, genre focused experience, the day carried an especially meaningful tone. While this may seem like the minimum standard for music events, it often feels as if London’s well for joy is running low.

Speaking to local festival goers, particularly within the non pop realms of jazz, funk, and soul, you would not struggle to hear a critical remark about the city’s lack of people led, enjoyable, and most importantly affordable spaces.

The Big Smoke labels itself as a city in constant motion. Ripe with opportunity and hustle, it can feel as if anything is possible in London. But what happens when the people behind that hustle are increasingly overworked, lacking the spaces needed to unwind, connect and share? Throughout the day, there was a clear appreciation for simply having somewhere to slow down together for a moment. With that in mind, those who go the extra mile to retain a sense of pleasure and normalcy through dedicated community models of music deserve recognition accordingly. The Cross The Tracks atmosphere signals a hopeful shift in the UK festival landscape.

This year’s line up featured a red carpet of London’s finest: Little Simz, Joy Crookes, and Kokoroko among them. And while the wider sonic world is often pushed toward the faster, synthetic blips of virality, Cross The Tracks’ choice to stay rooted in genre specialisation feels refreshing.

Their focus on historically Black origin music is another strength in the festival’s identity. Rather than chasing mass appeal, the organisers leaned into homage, roots, and heritage. Music that moves the spirit. Music that connects.

Beyond their curation of genre fusion — from Afroswing to electronic jazz — the festival caters to what feels like a Crowd That Cares. Artists spanned taste and time. This was a playground for all ages; from eight to eighty, everyone found something to take from the sonic buffet. Heritage pioneers and creative disruptors of the youth kept the audience diverse and the energy familial. The addition of panel talks, workshops, and boutique traders added a thoughtful touch.

Across the wider ecosystem, it often feels as if we are on the edge of a cultural shift. Headlines about AI music and shrinking attention spans feel constant. Yet festivals like Cross The Tracks remind us that there is still a deep appetite for intentional artistry, live connection, and spaces that encourage growth rather than instant gratification.

That is what lingered most after the final set. Beyond the music itself, Cross The Tracks felt like a reminder that community still exists. Sometimes it begins with something as simple as showing up: to a local gig, a shared conversation, or a space where people can gather, even if only for a day.

Echoes of A Certain Ratio

Photo by Debbie Ellis

Tracing the rhythm that connects A Certain Ratio to a wider creative world

My first encounter with A Certain Ratio came through people who shaped my ear long before I understood how influence works. A record placed on a turntable in 1982, a room shifting into a different atmosphere, and the opening of Showcase revealing a sound that felt both sharp and warm. The rhythm carried a sense of movement that refused to settle. It created a space that stayed open.

A Certain Ratio emerged from Manchester at a moment when the city was searching for new forms. Their early work carried the raw edges of post punk, yet they moved with a sense of rhythm that pointed toward funk, jazz and electronic experimentation. Factory Records recognised that instinct early and gave them the freedom to explore it. The result was a catalogue that feels restless, curious and always in motion.

There is a familiar energy between Manchester and Rotterdam. Both cities exist just outside the spotlight of their capitals, and that distance creates room for new ideas. They are work‑driven, direct, shaped by migration and industry, and open to hybrid forms. In places like these, culture grows from friction rather than tradition. A Certain Ratio carries that instinct, and it is an instinct I recognise in the creative undercurrent of Rotterdam.

Their blend of funk, post punk, electronics and avant garde elements creates a sound that feels alive. It grows from instinct rather than structure. Tracks like Showcase, Touch, Houses in Motion and Yo Yo Gi, to name a few, show how they shape rhythm into a language of their own. Even in their visual work, such as the clip for Houses in Motion, you can sense that same openness and willingness to move beyond genre.

Over the years I began to recognise a similar instinct in certain people around me. They listened with curiosity, moved through art with confidence and followed an inner rhythm that did not depend on trends. Their presence shaped the way I hear A Certain Ratio. It created a quiet line between personal memory and musical discovery.

A Certain Ratio continues to create with that same clarity. Their recent work feels connected to their early sound without repeating it. It grows from an inner logic that remains intact. Their music moves through time with a calm certainty. It reminds me that influence often arrives in small moments. A record in a living room. A conversation. A gesture. A rhythm that stays.

A Certain Ratio remains active and continues to evolve. The band records, performs and releases new work through Mute Records, the label that supports their current creative phase. Their sound has grown warmer and more expansive while keeping the instinctive pulse that defined their early Factory Records period. They tour with a steady presence, attract new listeners and maintain a loyal community that has followed them for decades. Their longevity feels natural rather than nostalgic. They move forward with the same curiosity that shaped their earliest recordings, and that sense of motion keeps their music alive.

This piece is a reflection on that line. A Certain Ratio opened a door that has never closed. Their sound continues to resonate and to shape the way I listen. It is a frequency that remains present, steady and alive.

Chanpan steps into a new phase with Confessions Part III

From breakbeat tension to explosive release, Chanpan opens a new chapter

Some artists grow by sharpening what they already know. Chanpan grows by stepping into something that feels larger than them. Their new single Confessions Part III marks that shift. It is the moment where a band that once played on the streets of Chinatown sounds ready for a stage that stretches far beyond it.

The track opens with a strange and beautiful tension. A pitched choir moves like a warning in the distance while a lone guitar draws a line through the mix. It feels cinematic without trying to be. When the chorus arrives, the energy breaks open. Grace delivers a line that carries the weight of a promise: I am working on being a legend. It does not feel like a boast. It feels like intent.

Listening to the track reveals how fluid their approach has become. The intro moves with a breakbeat pulse before the song erupts into a short and explosive rock section that brushes against grunge. Then it drops back into a calmer flow with a groove that almost hints at funk. The drums even echo the loose and human feel of Clyde Stubblefield. It is a track that shifts shape without losing its center.

Confessions Part III is also the clearest sign of where their upcoming EP autogratis might be heading. The production team behind the project includes names that shape the edges of modern pop and alternative music. You can hear that influence, but the song never loses the rawness that made Chanpan stand out in the first place. The band still sounds like themselves, only louder, sharper and more deliberate.

The video nods to their beginnings in Chinatown. It is not nostalgia. It is a reminder of how far they have moved and how quickly. Their rise over the past years has been marked by small but meaningful moments: a COLORS performance, sold out shows, viral clips, and a growing community that sees something real in them. Confessions Part III feels like the point where all those threads start to form a direction.

Their first European headline show takes place in Rotterdam, my hometown, at Rotown. It is a small and intimate venue with a long history of booking artists before the rest of the world pays attention. Acts like The Black Keys, Editors, Interpol, The National, Arctic Monkeys, Kurt Vile, Sigrid, Fontaines DC and Wet Leg all passed through its stage before they became widely known. Rotown has a way of sensing when something new is about to happen. Seeing Chanpan there feels like witnessing a moment before it becomes a memory.

With autogratis arriving in June, this single sets the tone. It suggests a band that is not chasing a trend but building a world. If this is the opening chapter, the rest of the EP might reveal how far they are willing to push.