Presenting the debut album from London-based drummer, producer, songwriter and bandleader Mackwood. ‘Master Changes’ is out now, via 5dB Records.
Inspired by the UK’s rich electronic and soundsystem culture, Mackwood warps what we usually understand as jazz into new shapes and unpredictable forms, melding modern production with live instrumentation from his 6 piece band at West London’s 5dB Studios. Named after a sci-fi novel about a nuclear apocalypse, Master Changes, is influenced not only by a vast range of music, spanning from Curtis Mayfield to Nubya Garcia and Holst to Four Tet; but also by literature and wider conversations on identity, connection and the human condition.
Having cut his teeth drumming and producing for some of the UK’s most exciting and forward thinking artists, including Col3trane, Nilufer Yanya, Jordan Rakei, Eliza and Blue Lab Beats, as well as creative collectives like Levitation Orchestra and The Silhouettes Project, the release of Master Changes signals a new era.
Speaking on the album, Mackwood explains: “The process of making this album has felt like a lot of experimentation and scrapbooking, but there are core energies joining from one idea to another. I deliberately drew on a wide range of ideas over a period of time, but arranged and played it all with the same set of musicians, so the sound world is always shifting around the same core palette. Excited to see it come to life!”
Listen to “Master Changes” here
Press release courtesy of Only Good Stuff