I wasn't aware that Segun was also a poet, playwright & film-maker. I'm not sure if he was doing any or all of those things back in 1995 when I first heard him as guest vocalist on Earthlings "Nothing" all I knew is that he had an original distinct voice. Back then the thought of searching the internet to find out an artists repertoire just wasn't an option or even thought. So twenty or more years later when you play a record (yes vinyl) and it occurs to you to look to see what else has this artist had been up to through sites like this diccogs to check their back catalogue.
Nothing • Earthling
A1. Nothing
B1. Nothingness
Produced by Earthling Productions
Label: Cooltempo – SPCD 1845, Chrysalis – SPCD 1845
Format: 320
Country: France
Released: 1995
Genre: Electronic
Style: Trip Hop
•
Sweet Surrender • Segun
A2. Sweet Surrender (Colin Thorpe Mix)
B1. Sweet Surrender (Thursday Club Dub)
B2. Sweet Surrender (Thursday Club Lyrical)
Produced by Earthling Productions
Label: Sliced – SLi01T
Format: 320
Country: UK
Released: 1996
Genre: Electronic
Style: Breakbeat, Downtempo
•
Ghost Town • Segun Lee-French
My new single: Ghost Town
What I’m about to do is one of the scariest things I’ve ever done in my artistic life. For the first time in 25 years, I’m going to release some music.
The journey to get here has been long and full of self doubt. I stopped making music because I got disillusioned with spending more time trying to anticipate what the industry wanted to hear than making the music I wanted to hear.
11 years ago, I started daily singing practice, not to release music or perform, but just because I love singing and I wanted to realise my full potential as a singer. I wanted to be surprised by my voice every time I sang.
I had to rebuild my voice from the basics – breathing and vocal production. I discovered that practicing is more satisfying than performing in public. Practicing is performing to an audience of two – myself and God – and I’ve been blessed with moments when I felt complete unity between my mind, body and the universe. Though not with my neighbours.
In 2016, out of the blue, my friend, writer/broadcaster Kevin Le Gendre told me out that he had written 10 songs for me to sing. We did a gig for ResonanceFM at Iklectik Art Lab with a band including Kevin on bass, Art Terry on keys and a drummer called JT.
I started attending the Freedom jam sessions run by Cleveland Watkiss and Orphy Robinson at The Vortex in Hackney, and felt the joy of improvising with musicians in front of an audience that listens.
4 years later, I’m releasing Ghost Town, a cover of my favourite song, written by Jerry Dammers for The Specials in 1981, the infamous year of riots.
The theme of the song is timely with the Covid pandemic, but I actually started work on the track with Kevin on bass in 2018. I’ve been procrastinating about releasing it for almost a year after Colin Thorpe did the final mix.
Ghost Town will be released on 30 April through Distrokid on more platforms than I ever knew existed. If you like what you hear, please do pre-save to your playlists. If you really want to make me feel loved, you can do that old fashioned thing and buy the track on pre-release.
Pre-save now (if you like)
Pre-order (if you love)
Tings & Times – Music & Words
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