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https://badcolours.bandcamp.com/album/promise
Brooklyn-based producer, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist Bad Colours returns with his fourth LP Promise on Bastard Jazz, the follow-up to 2024’s collaborative Been Here Before with Cor.Ece. Fusing house, proto-techno, soul, hip-hop, and UK garage, the album pairs hypnotic club rhythms with moments of personal reflection, exploring vulnerability, desire, and transformation. Inspired equally by the energy of underground dancefloors and the quiet moments in between, Promise is both dancefloor fuel and headphone therapy.
Musically, Promise is a vibrant journey through Bad Colours’ genre-blurring world. The title track kicks things off with an uptempo, harp-driven house groove featuring rising UK harpist Rachel Kitchlew, layered with ghostly female vocal snippets. “We Never Choose,” featuring Life On Planets, is a catchy, filtered floor-filler, with Life alternating between rap and smooth, soulful vocals. “Moment of Silence” spotlights Brooklyn’s Brandon Markell Holmes, whose emotive delivery soars over an intimate, late-night rhythm, while “Freaks” enlists early-2000s Brooklyn dance-rap legends Ninjasonik for a bass-heavy chugger powered by their rapid-fire flow. “Nightcap” rides a funky bassline and crisp percussion with vocals from longtime collaborator Jarv Dee, and “Home” closes the record on a piano-led, Masters at Work-inspired groove, with Bad Colours delivering his own intimate spoken-word poetry.
The project marks another evolution for London-born, Maryland-raised, Brooklyn-based artist Ibe Soliman, whose career has seen him DJ alongside James Murphy, Mark Ronson, and Q-Tip, produce for Kendrick Lamar and Faith Evans, and collaborate with Korean rap megastar Jay Park. His music has earned praise from NYLON, Resident Advisor, Wonderland, and Electronic Groove, as well as airplay from KCRW, KEXP, and CBC Radio 3, with tracks featured in Netflix’s Escape from Spiderhead, Hulu’s WOKE, Disney’s Chang Can Dunk, and more.
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