Alfa Mist - Variables

"Variables" the new album by Alfa Mist is out now. Order, stream & download: https://alfamist.ffm.to/variables

Band: Alfa Mist - Keys, Kaya Thomas-Dyke - Bass, Jas Kayser - Drums, Jamie Leeming - Guitar, Johnny Woodham - Flugelhorn and Samuel Rapley - Sax & Bass Clarinet

Director: Jack Lilley
Visual Director: brent@spod.com.au
Camera Operator: Jamie Harding, Bethany Fitter, Luke Ripley
Production Company: https://www.spod.com.au/

This introspective inquiry serves as the underlying thread throughout Alfa's fifth album, Variables. Navigating through lush, grandiose big band swings, head-nodding boom-bap rhythms, and poignant vocal melodies, the album sprawls expansively, brimming with soulful and evocative sensations that resonate within the body and spirit. Within Variables, his second release under the ANTI- label, Alfa Mist attains the pinnacle of his artistic achievement, crafting his most fully-realized and emotionally expressive musical opus yet. He seamlessly marries his acute knack for recurring, sentiment-rich piano harmonies with instinctual grooves and a fluid jazz improvisation.

Since unveiling his inaugural full-length project, Nocturne, in 2015, Alfa has firmly established himself as one of the United Kingdom's most focused, sought-after, and distinctive musical voices. Collaborations with luminaries like Jordan Rakei and Tom Misch have solidified his position. Fellow artists seek him out for his unique fusion of intimate bedroom production and expansive jazz ensemble orchestration, a testament to Alfa's refusal to be confined by genre limitations. His musical spectrum spans from crafting hip-hop beats to producing for talents like rapper Loyle Carner, composing neo-classical compositions for the London Contemporary Orchestra, and reimagining compositions from the likes of Ólafur Arnalds and the pioneering jazz label Blue Note. The revival of live performances has been warmly embraced by both Alfa and his fan base, culminating in an extensive tour across the UK and Europe, including a sold-out headline spectacle at London's Barbican. Alfa Mist is set to embark on another European, UK, and North American tour in 2023.

It is a balance between feeling and perfectionism that ultimately gives Alfa’s music its depth and capacity for repeated listening. It is also an ethos that has enabled his remarkable work-ethic to date. "I've never been a ‘one album every four years’ artist – I want to put out new projects every year," he says. "Music is an extension of my life; it is the practice of creating.''