Hackney Colliery Band set to release new album 'Collaborations: Volume One'

Currently celebrating their 10th anniversary, the album features collaborations with Mulatu Astatke, James Taylor, Angélique Kidjo, Roundhouse Choir, Dennis Rollins, Pete Wareham, Bugge Wesseltoft + more…

New single ‘Crushing Lactic’ combines HCB’s trademark hard-hitting horn-lead intensity with heavy, shifting grooves more commonly found in post-rock. Hardly surprising given that the track came about when the band invited composer, Eno collaborator and one third of experimental rock band Three Trapped Tigers Tom Rogerson to compose a track for them. The result is an ever-shifting sonic landscape which brings the band’s virtuosic playing to the fore, particularly the polymetric drumming of Olly Blackman and Luke Christie, and fiery trumpet playing of Steve Pretty and Miguel Gorodi. 

The flip side is the band’s second collaboration with legendary Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke, ‘Derashe’. Taking its name from an Ethiopian tribe, the track was suggested to the band by Mulatu himself; the Derashi tribe are known for creating incredible layered, dense music from tribal proto-brass instruments, so Mulatu was keen to bring out the connections between this ancient sound and that of HCB. With Mulatu and Ethiopian music a key influence on the band’s sound since day one, there is a wonderful sense of synchronicity that they should be releasing this ten years almost to the day since their very first gig. 

Since the release of Hackney Colliery Band’s eponymous debut album in 2011, the East London collective have blown their way into the public consciousness with their genre-bending combination of brass, reeds, percussion and electronics, firmly establishing themselves as one of the most exciting live bands in the UK. 

Performing at numerous venues, festivals and clubs around the world, including a recent sold-out show at the Scala as part of the London Jazz Festival, Hackney Colliery Band have been busy in the studio, developing a more mature and polished sound, and are pleased to announce the release of new album ‘Collaborations: Volume One’ - their first new material since the critically-acclaimed ‘Sharpener’ in 2016. 

It’s already been an incredible journey for this talented group of musicians. From playing a 45-minute set at the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and sets at the MOBO, Brit and Mercury Awards to live sessions on BBC Two, BBC Radio 2, Jazz FM and worldwide airplay from many more, from collaborations with the likes of Amy Winehouse and Madness to selling out venues across London including KOKO and The Forum, to a European tour, Hackney Colliery Band have not stopped.