New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Mura Masa's much-anticipated, critically-acclaimed debut album is out today via Anchor Point/Downtown/Interscope. A striking statement of intent from this still-just-21-year-old singer and producer, 'Mura Masa' has been teased in recent weeks by collaborations spanning household names to emerging talent: or, from Christine & the Queens and Damon Albarn on one hand to affiliates of Alex's own Anchor Point family on the other (Bonzai and Tom Tripp).
The last couple of years have seen Mura Masa translate tremendous ability and promise into a debut album which is at once playful, ambitious, and effortlessly accomplished. It's a record which looks in from the outside - across water, in fact - at a scope of subcultures, and measures the reality against what was promised by the lens of the Internet; arriving, in his own words, at "the confusion and chaos of being 20 and living in London for the first time". Allowing others into the Mura Masa world was a gradual process, but one which has paid off with a remarkable cast of collaborators: from A-Listers to cult heroes and emerging talent, but all Alex's vision of what pop music (and modern British culture) should look like in 2017.
However isolated your upbringing, messy your love life or intense your city, 'Mura Masa' suggests the importance of togetherness, and those endless possibilities to still connect.
Praise for Mura Masa's debut album
"Mura Masa has a world of instruments and sounds to draw on, and a confident craftsman's sense of what to include and what to leave out. His songs also understand that no system can contain or predict the vagaries of the human heart." New York Times
"The album, a dazzling tribute to London's rich multiculturalism, is a feast of sounds and flavors." NPR Music
"An assured amalgam of hip-hop, electronic dance music and sheer pleasure-center pop, with glints of hardcore punk, Himalayan folk and harps thrown in for good measure." Rolling Stone
"Forward-thinking, irresistible." The Fader
"Mura Masa will teleport your brain into the future of pop." Vice Noisey
"13 thoughtful, fanciful, introspective, brightly-shining songs." Billboard
Mura Masa - 'Mura Masa' Tracking Listing
1. Messy Love
2. Nuggets (feat. Bonzai)
3. Love$ick (feat. A$AP Rocky)
4. 1 Night (feat. Charli XCX)
5. All Around The World (feat. Desiigner)
6. Give Me The Ground
7. What If I Go (feat. Bonzai)
8. Firefly (feat. Nao)
9. NOTHING ELSE! (feat. Jamie Lidell)
10. helpline (feat. Tom Tripp)
11. Second 2 None (feat. Christine & The Queens)
12. Who Is It Gonna B (feat. A. K. Paul)
13. Blu (feat. Damon Albarn)
Tour Dates:
7/21/2017 - Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party
7/23/2017 - Los Angeles, CA - FYF Festival
7/25/2017 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line
7/26/2017 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
7/27/2017 - Austin, TX -
Empire Garage
7/30/2017 - New York, NY - Panorama
Music and Arts Festival
8/1/2017 - Boston, MA - Paradise
8/4/2017 - Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
8/5/2017 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
9/22/2017 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
9/24/2017 - Las Vegas, NV - Life is Beautiful
9/26/2017 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
9/27/2017 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
10/3/2017 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom
10/4/2017 - El Paso, TX -
Tricky Falls
10/6/2017 - Houston, TX - White Oak
Music Hall (Downstairs)
10/7/2017 - New Orleans, LA - Republic
10/8/2017 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
10/10/2017 - Carborro, NC - Cats Cradle
10/11/2017 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club