On Bring Backs the musician revisits his youth in Newham, his home borough in East London.
Alfa Mist is deeply attached to Newham, a place that plays host to an infinite variety of musical types, including grime and hip hop. He defines his album, Bring Backs, as a way to explore his musical education. Alfa Mist has been producing hip hop beats since he was thirteen years old, claiming to have been inspired by the London rapper Kano, as well as the American hip hop group Little Brother. This multi-instrumentalist also feels a sense of nostalgia, recalling his past as a drummer on the streets of London.
In Bring Backs, Alfa Mist wants to combine all this with the depth and intricacy of jazz, one of the greatest revelations of his life. Indeed, it was while searching for useful tracks to sample that he happily stumbled upon the jazz tradition and proceeded to fall into a world of jazz musicality. As a result, he felt a “need to learn how to play the piano.” In the video for “Run Outs,” captivating representations of the Underground pass by, just like the passing of time, which carries with it our memories, many of them tinged with bittersweet sensory nostalgia.
The entire album will be available via ANTI- Records on April 23. In the meantime, you can pre-order it here.
Listen to “Run Outs” on our Songs of the Week playlist, on Spotify and Deezer.