Sekito Vinyl & CDs

Review: Alfa Mist is a UK musician, producer and composer born in Newham, London. One of the members of Are We Live, a creative quartet that also includes Tom Misch, Jordan Rakei and Barney Artist. On his latest album for UK label Sekito titled Bring Backs, he goes back to his roots of his beat-making past on the streets of East London, as well as incorporating his jazz influences. From the smoky jazz bar loops of opener 'Keep On' to the uplifting urban blues of 'Breath' (feat Kaya Thomas-Dyke) to the sunny metro beats of 'Brian' - the LP is the most detailed exploration of his upbringing in musical form.

Review: Alfa Mist and Amika Quartet share a new ennead of never-heard-before tracks, alongside a few expansions on earlier releases: Recurring. An eternal return of saintly jazz and storytelling hip-hop, the record comes hot on the heels of Mist's recent Variables LP (2023) and the Manchester quartet's Amika's earlier 'Exist' release from earlier in 2024. The latter group have toured extensively with Alfa Mist in recent years, and the new live record notably foreruns its full release with a new exclusive, 'Checkpoint (Violence)', on which Mist not only drums, but at the same time MCs, with verve and flair. Here Mist concept-checks everything from modern-day apartheid to astrology (and exasperations thereof - "don't ask me your starsign"). Amika, meanwhile, embellish each mix with searing string arcos and long fibrous tugs, which seem, ironically, to assure us about the future, though they do lend the songs a demure mood: "don't fret".