UK jazz group Ezra Collective have announced a new album, Dance, No One’s Watching, due September 27 via Partisan Records (pre-order). As the title suggests, the album is an ode to dancing, and drummer Femi Koleoso says:
Myself, [trumpeter] Ife [Ogunjobi], and [bassist] TJ [Koleoso] all grew up in church, and it played a massive role in how we view the purpose of dancing. Dancing is bigger than just the club space. Dancing is a community thing, dancing is a spiritual thing, and ‘God Gave Me Feet For Dancing’ is like a window into that element of Ezra Collective for the five of us. There’s a story in the Bible that talks about ‘David dancing before the Lord’, and that’s always been something that has inspired me. So, ‘God Gave Me Feet For Dancing’ is meant to look at dancing in a more spiritual capacity, like it’s our God-given ability to shake away the badness of life and dance instead.
The album features recent single “Ajala,” as well as the just-released “God Gave Me Feet For Dancing,” a breezy, shuffling song with guest lead vocals from Yazmin Lacey. That comes with a video directed by Tajana Tokyo (who was formerly a dancer on Beyoncé and Janelle Monae tours), and the dance themes continue in the video too. Check it out below.
Tracklist
1. Intro
2. The Herald
3. Palm Wine
4. cloakroom link up. (Act 1)
5. God Gave Me Feet For Dancing (feat. Yazmin Lacey)
6. Ajala
7. The Traveller
8. in the dance. (Act 2)
9. N29
10. No One’s Watching Me (feat. Olivia Dean)
11. our element. (Act 3)
12. Hear My Cry
13. Shaking Body
14. Expensive
15. Streets is Calling (feat. M.anifest & Moonchild Sanelly)
16. lights on. (Act 4)
17. Why I Smile
18. Have Patience
19. Everybody