We’re heading in the direction of Spring Festival Season this year. The 6 Music Festival, broadcast live over the BBC has been a showcase for new talent and an overflowing plate of bands and single artists (and programmers and dj’s) going on during the upcoming weekend.
One of the bands kicking off the Festival yesterday is a Genre-bending trio; Young Fathers from Edinburgh, who combine Lo-fi, indie, soul, alternative hip hop, indietronica, art pop, avant-pop, noise pop into an infectious stew that the New York Times has described as “subversive”.
Well, that Editorial description tickled me no end since I’ve always been a big fan of the subversive side of popular music, having always felt that if music doesn’t have the power to kick your ass, then it’s not doing its job.
Young Fathers fits the bill quite nicely – and have been gathering steam as word of mouth is spreading, even to this side of the Atlantic.
Quick rundown on the history of this band by way of Wikipedia:
Formed in Edinburgh in 2008 by Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham ‘G’ Hastings, the group started performing in nightclubs when the band members were all in their teens.
In 2012, they signed to LA-based label Anticon and released their introductory mixtapes, Tape One and Tape Two, with Tape Two winning the Scottish Album of the Year Award (“The SAY Award”).
The trio then signed to Big Dada and released their debut album, Dead, which was released in 2014. The album gained critical attention and went on to win the Mercury Prize. Dead entered the UK albums chart at number 35 and topped the independent UK album chart.
Following an extensive world tour the band decamped to Berlin to begin work on their second album, White Men Are Black Men Too, which was released in April 2015. It peaked at number 41 on the UK Albums Chart.
In June 2017 Young Fathers played in the Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre as part of M.I.A.’s Meltdown Festival.
Six tracks on the T2 Trainspotting soundtrack feature Young Fathers, including “Only God Knows”, written specifically for the film. In a statement the director Danny Boyle described the song as “the heartbeat for the film”.
Young Fathers’ third studio album, Cocoa Sugar, was announced with the single “In My View” on 17 January 2018. The album was released on British independent label Ninja Tune on 9 March 2018. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 28, making it the band’s highest-charting album. It won the Scottish Album of the Year Award for 2018.
The trio released their fourth studio album, Heavy Heavy, via Ninja Tune on 3 February 2023.
While not an overtly political band, Young Fathers have spoken about issues such as racism and the treatment of refugees Due to their support of the BDS movement, the band was dropped from the 2018 Ruhrtriennale line-up.
The band were featured on the FIFA 19 and FIFA 23 soundtracks, with the songs “Border Girl” and “Rice” respectively.
Okay – now you know – check out their site, press-Play and enjoy your lunch.
