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Marky Edison

Marky Edison

Fantastic Negrito Announces March 2021 European Tour

 

Fantastic Negrito has released his new album, Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?,  via Cooking Vinyl/Blackball Universe. The album has gone straight in at #2 on the UK iTunes Rock Chart and #3 on the US iTunes Rock chart. In addition to the release of his third LP, Fantastic Negrito is celebrating being featured in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Social Justice Exhibit. His cover and docu-narrative, In The Pines, and the Gibson guitar he played in the video are currently on display alongside other musical trailblazers speaking up for the cause of equality. 

Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? marks Fantastic Negrito’s most far-reaching work thus far, fusing elements of hip-hop, R&B, funk, soul, and rock‘n’roll into an incendiary synthesis all his own. Inspired by and reminiscent of the socio-political albums coming from Black America in the late 1960s and into the ‘70s, the album sees Negrito exploring the struggle and complexities of mental health issues while continuing his long running lyrical examination of America’s increasingly broken social and political state of affairs. 

“On the first two albums I wrote about broad topics,” Fantastic Negrito says. “The proliferations of gun violence, the evil NRA, gentrification and homelessness, pharmaceutical companies that prey upon the people. On this album I wanted to write about people I knew, people I grew up with, people whose lives I could personally affect, and whose lives have impacted me. It was the hardest album I’ve ever written. 

“What do I want to say to these people, and to the world? If I had the chance, I would tell them the pain they are feeling, the darkness they are going through is temporary – especially if you consider the span of a human life. I would tell them we can’t fight these obstacles alone. We need each other. Get offline. Talk to people. I would tell them I am here for you. We can’t hide from the pain. We need to look right at it. To really look into someone’s eyes is to feel their power and their vulnerability, to feel humanity, and to feel love.” 

Fantastic Negrito has also announced his European tour dates for March 2021, which includes a show at London’s Jazz Café on Monday 29th. Full dates below 

  

MARCH 2021 

Mon 22nd         Alcatraz, Milan (Italy) 

Tues 23rd         La Cigale, Paris (France) 

Weds 24th        Paradiso Noord, Amsterdam (Holland) 

Thurs 25th        Upload, Barcelona (Spain) 

Sat 27th            Indipendence, Madrid (Spain) 

Mon 29th         Jazz Café, London (England) 

  

 

 

New Pagans 'Yellow Room' Supporting Mothers In Music

 

 

Belfast band New Pagans are back with brand new music following the success of their latest EP Glacial Erratic, and have shared the powerful new track ‘Yellow Room’.

 

The band use their creative influence to challenge past and present issues surrounding relationships, equality, history, and gender, all wrapped up in their alternative, post-punk, indie rock style. With ‘Yellow Room’ the band tackle another important topic surrounding the issue of motherhood within the music industry and the lack of support for women with perinatal mental health needs, particularly in Northern Ireland.

 

This often-muted subject is something that personally hits home with lead singer and lyricist Lyndsey McDougall who is a mother herself. The track is based on the short story The Yellow Wallpaper by American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which is celebrated as an important piece of early American feminist literature.

 

Many believe it deals with the topic of postnatal depression which is something Lyndsey has witnessed some of her close friends struggle with. “When you become a mother for the first time the nights are often the most difficult”, she explains, “Long, lonely hours in the dark, feeding, worrying and watching.

 

“The Yellow Wallpaper, although an example of gothic horror, was a comfort to me as I struggled to make sense of all the new emotions and implications of having another human being to look after. It made me feel less alone in the shock of becoming a mother.”

 

With the new single New Pagans aim to encourage recognition for mothers within the industry and specifically highlight the need for a specialised parent-and-baby mental health unit in Northern Ireland; something which has been improved in England, Scotland and Wales.

 

“We hope everyone can become a little more comfortable with this topic, we personally want to see the narratives of mothers/parents/carers included and considered in every industry. We need to ask ourselves why we are so uncomfortable with discussing it and why we feel it’s not relevant. Motherhood doesn’t define me but it definitely shouldn’t be something I hide or feel ashamed about. We need to challenge the perception that women who become mothers have less to add to the conversation.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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