Nightmares On Wax announces new album ‘Shout Out! To Freedom’

Warp’s longest serving artist is back

George Evelyn, better known by his stage name Nightmares On Wax, has announced his upcoming album ‘Shout Out! To Freedom’ in October, via Warp Records.

Considered by the artist to be his most personal album to date, ‘Shout Out! To Freedom’ oscillates between electronica, jazz, hip-hop and contemporary styles. The album contains a wealth of guest features, with contributions by Greentea Peng, Shabaka Hutchings, OSHUN and Haile Supreme.

Warp’s longest-serving signing, Evelyn is known for his club classic ‘Aftermath’ and his later single ‘You Wish’. Both are among the many releases to have established his signature blend of techno, breakbeat, soul, and hip-hop. 

Although 9 albums into his career, Evelyn considers this album to be the first time he has truly found his sound. Reflecting on its release, Evelyn said: “I’ve been gigging non-stop for 10 years, and that experience has been beautiful but it also drained me emotionally.”

This period of reassessment was both revelatory and draining. “As a creative you’re always questioning everything,” he said. “So having the time and the space has meant that I could do a proper deep dive into this stuff. So it was all about this journey of going back to myself, and realising being at home with my wife and my daughter that I’ve not really been here properly. It’s like I’ve just woken back up to what I actually have – and it’s already here.”

Paired with the adoption of a healthier lifestyle, which led to a new creative clarity, the album came after a frightening close call with cancer, which led Evelyn to gain a new appreciation for life and collaboration. “I remember going into writing this album and having a conversation saying that I need to go into this album as if this was the last album I was ever going to write,” he remembers. “I asked myself: What would I do? How deep would I go? It was kind of ironic that I did end up experiencing that feeling for a time. Especially in the two week period where I didn’t know what the results were going to be.”

Plans have been afoot for Evelyn to make a collaborative, multi-guest album for years, but only recently have they come to fruition. “‘The world had stopped and I’d slowed down but time speeded up,” he reflects. “So there was a lot of static going on in the world at that time. So my conversation with people was more like, ‘what’s going on inside? What’s the inner voice saying?’”

‘Shout Out! To Freedom’ will be released on 29th October on vinyl, CD and digital download. Pre-order the album here. 

Stream and download the pre-release singles ‘Own Me’ and ‘Wonder’ here.