In My Soul

In November 2019, eight artists from Kenya, Uganda and the UK spent a week in Nairobi together making an album exploring new tangents in soul music.

The group, collectively known as Extra Soul Perception, is made up of Faizal Mostrixx (Ug), Hibotep (Ug), K15 (UK), Karun (Ke), Labdi (Ke), Lex Amor (UK), Lynda Dawn (UK) and Maxwell Owen (UK).

Every day of the writing camp they worked with a new combination of artists, putting their powers of improvisation and collaboration to the test. The result was a body of work that reflected the range of backgrounds, interests and disciplines in the group; from acapella harmonies, soft spoken word, transcendental gqom, razor sharp swahili rap, bumping broken beat and beguiling RnB. The tracks capture a spirit, unique to a place and time that won't be replicated again; an energy and atmosphere forged by open minds and prodigious talent.

Before the Spring release of the ESP album, the first single comes from Kampala producer, dancer and Nyege Nyege Festival favourite Faizal Mostrixx, and Nairobi singer Karun, formerly part of BET-nominated Camp Mulla.

A chugging, thunderous kick and stuttering highs interplay with Karun's fluttering vocals before she adopts a more sharp-edged Swahili persona to match Faizal's frenetic synth trills; as if Obongjayar had been processed through a Hyperdub filter. This is the first time Karun has rapped in her mothertongue on record and lays down a promising marker for the talent spilling out of Extra Soul Perception.

The album will be performed live for the first time on the ESP UK tour, stopping of at The Jazz Cafe, London (22 Feb), Band on the Wall, Manchester (23 Feb) and 24 Kitchen St, Liverpool (24 Feb)