South London rapperĀ Confucius MCĀ returns to Shabaka Hutchingsā Native Rebel RecordingsĀ for a new projectĀ alongsideĀ producer and multi-instrumentalistĀ Bastien Keb.Ā
Merging unexplored pathways between rap, folk, and jazz into a spiritual triumvirate,Ā Songs For Lost Travellers, set for release on February 7thĀ 2025,Ā is an album unlike any either artist has made previously, possibly unlike any record in existence.
Honest and direct, the duo imbueĀ Songs For Lost TravellersĀ with knowledge and truth from their lived experiences. There is grief hidden in the notes, an inherent sadness that is balanced with an awareness that grief is a protest against the social machinery of remaining numb. The record lingers in a meditative state, unafraid of restlessness and embracing solitude, with the expectation that peace is just as imminent as death.
Neither Con nor Keb bothered much with the professional studio in makingĀ Songs For Lost Travellers. Instead, they opted for the raw state of their home recordings and first takes, matching the intimacy of being alone and reflective in their creative energies. Room static on āTell Me Liesā makes it feel like youāve entered their apartments. The immediacy continues on āGuttersā, as Keb plays guitar while watching the tele and Con hums along to the vocal melody in search of the proper pocket for his verse.Ā
More drawn to Kebās recent folk recordings on theĀ Songs For LillaĀ EP than his funk roots circaĀ Dinking In The Shadows of ZizouĀ or the cinematic soul ofĀ The Killing of Eugene Peeps, Con leaned into the spacial freedom he heard in Kebās lo-fi production cobbled from field recordings and voice notes. Both artists placed their families into the tableau; Con wrote āLittle Manā for his son, hoping to add a positive contribution to the canon of parental rap songs. Later, his son appears at the end of āParamountā to deliver a passage from Kahlil GibranāsĀ The Prophet. Keb secretly recorded his mum playing saxophone and sampled his cousin playing sax as well. The result is a near-drumless album (save for āToulouseā and light tapping on āIt Would Speakā) in which Kebās raw production (plus a few sessions with Kofi Flexxx on flute) gave Con a liminal zone, unencumbered by beats per minute, to craft melodies that turn his philosophical rhymes into mantras.
Songs For Lost TravellersĀ TracklistĀ
1. Tell Me Lies
2. Fairytale
3. Time Will Come
4. It Would Speak
5. Little Man
6. Lemon Zest
7. Question Or Consume
8. Gutters
9. Paramount
10. Bonsai
11. Lattice of ConfidenceĀ
12. Eyes To See
13. Toulouse
14. Care AboutĀ
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Songs For Lost TravellersĀ is out via Native Rebel Recordings on February 7thĀ 2025, pre-orderĀ HERE.
