OSCAR JEROME
ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM ‘BREATHE DEEP’
OUT JULY 10 2020 – CAROLINE INTERNATIONAL
SHARES FIRST SINGLE ‘YOUR SAINT’ (FEAT. BROTHER PORTRAIT)
South London’s Oscar Jerome today announces his highly-anticipated debut album ‘Breathe Deep’, due for release on July 10th 2020 via Caroline International. The details arrive alongside a new single ‘Your Saint’, which features Oscar’s fellow bandmates in Afrobeat group KOKOROKO and the rapper and poet Brother Portrait, of arts collective Steam Down. You can stream ‘Your Saint’ – which follows 6Music B-listed ‘Sun For Someone’ – and its accompanying video here: https://OscarJerome.lnk.to/YourSaintPR
A staple of the capital’s burgeoning jazz scene – previously
collaborating with everyone from Shabaka Hutchings to Moses Boyd and Yussef Dayes – the ‘Breathe Deep’ LP sees Oscar bring in an army of collaborators that he says have been an integral part of his journey so far. Other guests include friends in Ezra Collective,
Sons of Kemet and Maisha, as well as the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas. The record arrives off the back of a fast-growing catalogue that’s seen the Norwich-born guitarist and vocalist pick up frequent support and playlisting from the
likes of 6 Music, Radio 1 and 1Xtra and embark on packed-out tours around the US, UK, Europe and Australia (including a tour with American jazz maestro Kamasi Washington and his biggest headliner to date at London’s Heaven).
Talking about his debut album, Oscar says:
“‘Breathe Deep’ is a pretty broad
presentation of who I am musically and my journey to get to this point. On a personal level, it’s a reflection of the effort put in during that path of self-bettering, both emotionally and in life more broadly. It’s about preparing oneself for failure and
growing from that. Taking a moment to step back and see where things are going and where one has been. It also addresses the resilience of people, which is reflected in the more political moments on the album. The world is a messed up place but people still
find ways of preparing themselves for it.”
The soaring ‘Your Saint’ is one such politically-charged extract.
Oscar wrote the song whilst in Paris, dismayed at the sight of homeless Syrian families being forced to live out of cold, overcrowded metro stations. He explains:
“The journey these people have taken
draws a lot of parallels with Greek Mythology and the Old Testament. The inability for large supposedly-Christian societies like the French or British to welcome and help people that are fleeing conflict and poverty is completely hypocritical to their claimed
values.”
As well as brass and percussion courtesy of his KOKOROKO bandmates
(for whom Oscar wrote ‘Abusey Junction’, now streamed over 50 million times), the track also features a poignant spoken-word piece from London-based Sierra Leonean rapper and poet Brother Portrait, co-founder of arts collective Steam Down.
“I was very lucky to feature one of my favourite lyricists and story-tellers, and a good friend. Brother paints a beautiful and melancholic scene from the perspective of a refugee making this journey,”
Oscar says.
You can pre-order Oscar Jerome’s debut album, ‘Breathe Deep’, here: https://OscarJerome.lnk.to/BreatheDeepPR
‘BREATHE DEEP’ TRACK-LIST
searching for aliens
Sun For Someone
Give Back What U Stole From Me
Your Saint ft Brother Portrait
Coy Moon
what’s up buttercup
Gravitate
Fkn Happy Days ’N’ That
Timeless ft Lianne La Havas
draggin’ my heels
Joy Is You
OSCAR JEROME LINKS
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