Sometimes I Might Be Intimate

An hour of Little Simz, celebrating new album Lotus, which came out on 6th June.

For a lucky few, Little Simz played an intimate PA live performance in Bristol on 9th June.

When I say "few", i's a measure of Little Simz' hard earned and well deserved success that these days, an "intimate" performance is playing to several thousand people in a coverted warehouse along the Feeder Canal, a few miles from the city centre.

And not just one performance, but two: a matinee and an evening show.

And this wasn't just any old PA, this was a full on hour of performing on stage (and, at one point, in the crowd), an 18-song set that included a generous dip into crowd pleasers and deep cuts.

Little Simz doesn't need a full band, visuals and pyrotechnics, she had the audience in the palm of her hand, though it's fair to say that everyone was up for it from the start. I mean, really up for it. 

Little Simz is the most exciting, authentic, honest, humble, generous artist around today.

And Lotus is a(nother) bloody brilliant album from a rapper at the top of their game.

For no other reason than mild curiosity, I decided to follow the steps of my blogging compadres and play around with ChatGPT for this one.

I asked for an AI review as a rap, written by a 16-year old Bristolian and this is what it came up with. It's pretty bad, but some of the groaningly awkward rhymes made me chuckle. 

It's not lost on me however that it was all done in a split second, whilst this ham-fisted blogger spent considerably more time just copying, pasting and formatting the very same into this post...

See if you can spot where Artificial Intelligence mistook Little Simz for The Sims. Oh, the irony.

Yo, check it, yo, yo

Little Simz dropped that Lotus on the 6th of June,

Had the whole scene buzzin’, that album a monsoon,

But Bristol got lucky, 9th June, real tight,

Simz hit the stage, man, the vibe was so right.

She ain't just playin', nah, she’s puttin' in work,

Two shows, one matinee, one night time perk

Crowd was massive, but still felt like it’s close,

A few thousand deep, but she got that vibe that’s so dope.

It ain't no regular PA, she brought the heat,

An hour on stage, she got the crowd on their feet,

Premiere Lotus, half the album in the set,

18 tracks deep, no cap, you ain't forget.

She don’t need no band, no fancy lights,

Just the mic in her hand, and she killed that night,

Thief and Flood, they came with mad energy,

Audience locked in, full of raw synergy.

She went back to the classics, don’t forget,

Two Worlds Apart, Point And Kill, no sweat,

Woman hit hard, crowd was feelin' the flow,

Simz got them vibin’ everywhere she go.

Drop 7 EP, yeah, she brought that too,

Grey Area was in the mix, Venom got ’em wild, dude,

Crowd was hype, no dips in the vibe,

Simz kept it real, got the crowd so alive.

She's authentic, humble, that’s the truth,

No gimmicks, just real talk from the booth,

Lotus the album, another banger she made,

Simz at the top, she don’t need no parade.

She a queen in the game, no one do it like this,

Every line she spits, man, it's pure bliss.

Bristol knows what's up, they saw it firsthand,

Simz takin’ over, this the rise of the fam.

Today's Dubhed selection recreates the 18-song set from the Bristol PA. Seven songs from Lotus, which I have, and four from the Drop 7 EP, which I don't. For the latter, I've swapped out with a trio of bootleg remixes, plus a live performance from Glastonbury.  

For the trio of tracks from Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, I've included just one studio original, the other two performed live for the BBC. The rest are taken from their respective digital releases. Being Little Simz, all of them are brilliant.

1) Thief (2025)

2) Flood (ft. Obongjayar & Moonchild Sanelly) (2025)

3) Two Worlds Apart (Album Version ft. Cleo Sol) (2021)

4) Young (2025)

5) 101 FM (2019)

6) Venom (Album Version) (2019)

7) Mood Swings (IsGwan Edit By Isaac Walker) (2024)

8) Torch (Next To Blue & canary yellow Edit By Tim Gouin & Canary Mark) (2024)

9) Fever (Bad Friends Flip) (Remix By Noah Tate & Hugo Shaw) (2024)

10) S.O.S. (Live @ Glastonbury Festival ft. Jakwob) (2024)

11) Only (ft. Lydia Kitto) (2025)

12) Lion (ft. Obongjayar) (2025)

13) Point And Kill (Live Lounge Session ft. Obongjayar) (2021)

14) Free (2025)

15) Lonely (2025)

16) Selfish (ft. Cleo Sol) (2019)

17) Woman (Live @ Later... With Jools Holland, BBC TV) (2021)

18) Gorilla (2022)

2019: GREY Area: 5, 6, 16

2021: Later... With Jools Holland EP (bootleg MP3): 17

2021: Live Lounge EP (BBC Radio 1, 13 September 2021) (bootleg MP3): 13

2021: Sometimes I Might Be Introvert: 3

2022: No Thank You: 18

2024: Fever EP: 9

2024: Little Simz Edit Pack EP: 8

2024: Live At Glastonbury 2024 (bootleg MP3): 10

2024: Whine & Stop / Mood Swings EP: 7

2025: Lotus: 1, 2, 4, 11, 12, 14, 15

Sometimes I Might Be Intimate (59:50) (KF) (Mega)

Don't Get Stuck In The Past

Today's 2021 retrospective highlights some great remixes from various singles and albums. The post title is the opening line of track 1, but also slightly tongue-in-cheek: a quick glance at the track listing and it's like an old school reunion, with Soulwax, Darren Emerson, Mark Ronson, UNKLE, Groove Armada and - bloody hell! - Kris Needs. My other challenge was avoiding making this a Hardway Bros. 'best of 2021'. Sean Johnston has delivered so many fantastic remixes, several of which have featured in previous posts; for this selection, I managed to whittle it down to two. Also making two appearances is Jesse Fahnestock: remixing Spacemen 3 as 10:40 in April, which led me to many more subsequent Bandcamp purchases, and November's single Thrill Me, as Jezebell (Fahnestock & Darren Bell), which includes a suitably whacko retro sample. This is barely scratching the surface, and I've a long list of this year's music that I still want to get, as 2022 and even more new sounds approach.

 

1) A Hero's Death (Soulwax Remix): Fontaines D.C.

2) That Time Of Night (Darren Emerson Remix): GLOK ft. Shiarra

3) Sail We Must (Hardway Bros Remix): Wet Signals

4) Thrill Me (Darren Darko Mix): Jezebell

5) Flying Tiger (The Mole's Slower Remix By Colin De La Plante): Dreems

6) New Love Cassette (Mark Ronson Remix): Angel Olsen

7) Hegel Dialect (UNKLE Reconstruction): Krust

8) They're In Our Head (Kampong Glam Mix): Rude Audio

9) First Class Bitch (Groove Armada's Confidence Trick Remix): Confidence Man

10) Point And Kill / Fear No Man (mindtrix music Remix): Little Simz ft. Obongjayar

11) Walking In The Sun (James Bright Remix): Andres Y Xavi ft. Rolo McGinty

12) Obey (Hardway Bros Stereo Odyssey Mix): Rheinzand

13) Love Comes In Waves (Pye Corner Audio Remix): Andy Bell

14) Weekend (The Judas Triangle) (Dom Beken & Kris Needs Remix): The Orb

15) How Does it Feel? (10:40's Terrace Moonshine Dub) (Remix By Jesse Fahnestock): Spacemen 3

Don't Get Stuck In The Past (1:39:08)

 

A note on yesterday's post: track-by-track comments still to come. Early visitors may have noticed that I dropped Show Your Face by The Anchoress into the mix for a second consecutive day. Oops! That was a mistake: much as I love the song, it was supposed to be Let It Hurt instead, but in my half-awake state I pulled the wrong track. After a shower and a strong coffee, I've corrected and replaced the selection and link. Slipshod DJ licence currently under review and may be revoked.

Fear No Evil, Fear No Person, Fear No Spirit, Fear Nobody

Today's selection highlights 10 of my favourite albums from 2021. They're not ranked or scored, simply listed by the order that I sequenced the tracks for this playlist. This was initially a 'draft' post: due to life and stuff, I ran out of time to add comments on why I like these albums so much, but in a Christmas Eve update, here are my 10:

All Of Us: 10:40

My entry point was in Bagging Area in April, via the re-edit of Spacemen 3's How Does It Feel?, which inevitably led to Bandcamp, both the excellent Paisley Dark label and 10:40's debut album. The latter is almost an hour of dub-influenced beats and ambient washes, with hints of vocals threaded throughout. It was just the beginning of what has been a prolific year for Jesse Fahnestock, not only with 10:40 but with Emilia Harmony as Electric Blue Vision and Darren Bell as Jezebell. I'm looking forward to what comes next in 2022.

 

Catastrophe Hits: Broken Chanter

A pre-release recommendation by The Vinyl Villain in October, I bought the CD on spec and I wasn't disappointed. JC writes far more eloquently about the album than I can and closes his review with the comment that Catastrophe Hits "could well be the musical equivalent of the vaccination programme. Overdue, much needed, and a real shot in the arm." I won't argue with that.

 

Flock: Jane Weaver

I had a few songs here and there, but Flock was the first full album purchase I made. From what I can gather this is Jane's most overtly pop-oriented album to date and yes, it's choc-full of hooks, but with characteristic psych/prog/motorik undertones. Heartlow sets the tone and it flows seamlessly from there, 10 songs in 44 minutes. It's hard to pick a favourite, even from the singles, but Sunset Dreams deserves a special mention.

 

'NINE': SAULT

I'm often late to the party and, whilst I'd read about the mysterious collective led by Dean Josiah Cover aka Inflo, it was their drop of 'NINE' as a limited, 99-day release that prompted me to buy this and their entire album back catalogue in one fell swoop. SAULT's first album, 5, came out in May 2019; by June 2021, they were on album number 5, including two doubles. What's incredible is that this is definitely not a case of quantity over quality. Whether played as full albums or random shuffle playlists, SAULT's music is astonishing.

 

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert: Little Simz

Inflo was at the controls for what has turned out to be one of the year's highlights, also the fifth offering from Simbiatu Ajikawo aka Little Simz. I was aware of her and quite liked what I'd heard, but it was The Robster's post on Is This The Life? as part of his 50th birthday celebration in July that hooked me, with the stunning Introvert. I pre-ordered the album and it's one of those rare new releases that exceeds the hype and expectation. It's best listened to as a whole, the received pronunciation of guest narrator Emma Corrin can sometimes be a bit grating in isolation, but makes perfect sense as a full work. The breadth of influences and styles is breath-taking and the overarching personal narrative sets Little Simz as a unique and compelling voice.

 

Boy From Michigan: John Grant

I'm biased: I have loved every album that John Grant has released since Queen Of Denmark; I've probably said this before each time too, but this is arguably his best album to date. I guess a lot will rest on whether you have shared Grant's love of and commitment to electronica or wish he would return more fully to the Midlake-supported  70s sounds of his solo debut - I'm firmly in the former camp. Collaborating with Cate Le Bon on production was an inspired move. The Only Baby was an acutely well-timed lead single back in January and the quality of the album doesn't falter. It's a long album - 12 songs in 75 minutes - but never overstays it's welcome.

 

Animal: LUMP

Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay's second collaboration as LUMP wasn't something I'd assumed would happen, so it was a pleasant surprise to discover the lead single and title track back in May. I predicted back then that the forthcoming album would be a personal favourite of this year and here it is. Marling's lyrics are as sharp as ever: first track Bloom At Night opens with  

I heard a word that they paint mirrors on their face
And soon forget that they reflect but don’t create

 

and final song Phantom Limb closes with Marling reciting the album's production credits. She maintains a slightly distanced, emotionless tone throughout the album, juxtaposed with earthy, organic sounds, which provides a compelling tension.

 

The Art Of Losing: The Anchoress

Catherine Anne Davies' collaboration with Bernard Butler, In Memory Of My Feelings, was a 2020 highlight, which prompted me to purchase her 2nd album as The Anchoress in March, and her debut album a month or so later. It's a classic album in the sense of it's song structures, full of melodic and lyrical hooks. I had hoped to see The Anchoress supporting Manic Street Preachers live in concert in October. Unfortunately, Catherine had to withdraw from live commitments on health grounds due to the pandemic. In the end, I also had to pull out of going to the Manics gig (although that had a happier ending, with the ticket going to a good home). Pandemic permitting, The Anchoress will be on a solo tour in 2022 and I hope to experience these songs performed on stage. I think it'll be awesome.

 

Clarion Call: Xan Tyler & Mad Professor

When putting together posts for this blog, I'll often pick up on a song randomly or one that's perhaps languishing in my "haven't played for years" list and this can often lead me down a rabbit hole, discovering other music by the same artist. And so it was with Xan Tyler. Twenty years on from a previous collaboration with Mad Professor, July saw a new album Clarion Call, which I discovered in October as part of my research for the aforementioned post. It's been on repeated plays since and it's a wonderful mix of emotionally charged lyrics and uplifting dub sounds. I frequently listen to opener Why Do You Lie and think it's a comment on the current government, particularly the lumpen oaf in charge.

 

De Película: The Limiñanas / Laurent Garnier

An obvious choice perhaps, but the music and video for Que Calor ! reach out and grab you by the shoulders, shaking off the malaise and compel you to groove (warning: less advisable if working at height and in charge of heavy machinery). The album itself is a wild, hour-long ride and, whilst it may be less ground-breaking than some of the other albums on this list, it's one that cried out for the repeat button as soon as the final track ends. Another album that I pre-ordered following a Bagging Area recommendation in May and was it worth the wait.

Here's one selection from each album, apart from the Little Simz two-hander, which deserves not to be separated:

1) The Forever Yes (Album Version): 10:40

2) Allow Yourself: Broken Chanter

3) Heartlow: Jane Weaver

4) Trap Life: SAULT

5) Point And Kill / Fear No Man (Album Version): Little Simz ft. Obongjayar

6) Your Portfolio: John Grant

7) Animal: LUMP

8) Let It Hurt: The Anchoress

9) Why Do You Lie: Xan Tyler & Mad Professor

10) Que Calor ! (Album Version): The Limiñanas / Laurent Garnier ft. Edi Pistolas

 

Fear No Evil, Fear No Person, Fear No Spirit, Fear Nobody (49:14)

You Can't Stop Me

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, the fifth album by Little Simz is proving to be one of the runaway successes of 2021. A standout track, released as a single back in September, is Point And Kill, featuring Obongjayar. The videos for all of the singles to date have been stunning, and this is no exception, incorporating follow-up album track Fear No Man at the end.

 

Little Simz and Obongjayar performed a great version of Point And Kill on BBC 1 Xtra's Live Lounge a couple of weeks after the single release.

Vienna DJ duo mindtrixmusic have also put out a club-friendly remix of Point And Kill / Fear No Man, which I really like.

Finally, Little Simz and band delivered a rousing 5-song set for KEXP. Point And Kill isn't included, but you really won't care as the other songs are so strong. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert might not be my favourite album of 2021 (no spoilers), but it is way, way up there.

 

Point And Kill / Fear No Man (Video Version): Little Simz ft. Obongjayar (2021)

Point And Kill (BBC Radio 1Xtra Live Lounge Version, 13 September 2021): Little Simz ft. Obongjayar (2021)

Point And Kill / Fear No Man (mindtrixmusic Remix): Little Simz ft. Obongjayar (2021)

Introvert / Woman / Venom / I Love You, I Hate You / Rollin Stone (Live On KEXP at Home, 11 September 2021): Little Simz (2021)

Meanwhile, Obongjayar dropped a new song in October. The video features Obongjayar as a driver for a gangster, played by Kivanc Sezen. It doesn't end well...

 

Message In A Hammer (Video Version): Obongjayar ft. Kivanc Sezen (2021)