We Speak Music
The Maverick Band Share New Singles ‘Christmas Is Coming’ and ‘A Lonely Homeless Christmas’
Supporting HRH Prince William’s ambition to end homelessness with the release of two special Christmas songs ‘Christmas Is Coming’ and ‘A Lonely Homeless Christmas’ – with profits going to homeless charities.
HRH The Prince of Wales recently launched his campaign to end homelessness in the UK. Recent research has identified that at least 271,000 people are recorded as homeless in England alone, including 123,000 children.
John Cristal, The Maverick Band’s singer-songwriter says, “I originally wrote a cheerful, very family orientated Christmas song called “Christmas is Coming”. The song is about all the things families typically do in the run-up to Christmas.
However, having written that song and subsequently reading about the homelessness campaign that HRH Prince William has recently initiated, The Maverick Band felt very strongly that there should be a song to support such a worthy project, especially when you read the shocking statistics.
John Cristal did a lot of research in order to appreciate the different aspects of homelessness – that was a real an eye opener and quite upsetting. The song is titled ‘A Lonely Homeless Christmas’. He is very optimistic once people have heard it, they will feel motivated to donate to the various homeless charities, who do such great work. All the profit from the song will go to a number of large and small charities.
The Maverick Band decided to launch both Christmas songs simultaneously as a ‘’Double A-side’ to help reinforce the extreme polarised positions between a very happy, cheerful household and a very lonely, homeless person, at Christmas. They hope radio stations will lend their support to this initiative and play the ‘Christmas is Coming’ first followed immediately by the ‘A Lonely Homeless Christmas’ to maximise the effect and emotional impact.
The Maverick Band comment on the releases: “These are two diametrically opposed songs; Christmas is coming is all about the typical things a family do during December in the lead up to Christmas, while A lonely homeless Christmas is about those less fortunate than ourselves who are living on the street starving, when everyone else are having a great time and over indulging! You couldn’t get a more polarised situation if you tried.”
This October, Hip-hop inna yardie style (old school fusion between reggae and hip-hop) collective L’Entourloop are set to rock UK stages, with shows in Liverpool, London & Bristol. Their Bristol date at The Trinity Center and their first London date at Village Underground are already SOLD OUT, leading to a second London date being added to deal with the high demand that L’Entourloop’s unforgettable shows create.
The dates will see L’entourloop hitting higher than ever as they perform tracks from their huge back catalogue, as well as their latest 20 track album “La clarté dans la confusion” (“Clarity in Confusion”).
Produced in their now legendary Bandulu Studio, the new album is a result of a patient production process, carried out with care and passion. Throughout the album, L’Entourloop testifies in its own way via a puzzle of film samples, of this strange period that we have just gone through collectively, using all its savoir faire when it comes to make the people dance.
Since 1964, when the song “My Boy Lollipop” flooded the European radio airwaves, L’Entourloop’s love for reggae and its culture has never stopped growing. With this third album, they wanted to pay tribute to the legendary pioneers of this incredible movement – artists and producers such as Tom Wong, Count Machuki, Prince Buster and Lee “Scratch” Perry. An album which is a true declaration of love for soundsystem culture and its children – reggae, dancehall and hip-hop.
The success of their previous albums “Chickens in Your Town” (2015) and “Le Savoir Faire” (2017), with their famous “Banging Hip-Hop Inna Yardie Style” quickly brought L’Entourloop into the spotlight, along with their hundreds of shows performed all over Europe. The mysterious collective continues to bring together an ever-growing audience around the world, as proved by their hundreds of millions of plays on music platforms.
True lovers of vinyl and old cinema, in their perpetual quest for the ultimate sample, the insatiable diggers kept their fans waiting by first dropping the excellent DJ-Mix “Start From Scratch” in the summer of 2021, followed by a series of 3 official remixes, including the Reunion Island anthem “Li Sem”.
Another striking characteristic of L’Entourloop is the great ability of King James and Sir Johnny to gather incredible guests from around the world. Whether with Skarra Mucci and their now classic “Dreader Than Dread” or their excellent EP “Golden Nuggets” (2019), Capleton for the extravagant remix of “Burn Dem Down”, producer Panda Dub they collaborated with on “Le Bonheur” or French singer Biga Ranx for their hit “Push The Limits”, L’Entourloop has the gift of giving birth to collaborations that mark the spirits.
With no less than 32 guests from all over the world, MCs fling lyrics like guns like in a western movie and the new album is no exception!
On the reggae side, Jamaican legends such as Ken Boothe and Bounty Killer meet new generation stars such as Alborosie, Kabaka Pyramid, Queen Omega and Marcus Gad. On the hip-hop side Chali 2Na from legendary US group Jurassic 5, Swedish MC Promoe from Looptroop Rockers, US rapper Rêverie, the excellent JuJu Rogers, French beatmaker Degiheugi and the irresistible South African female rapper Dope St Jude all make appearances.
The UK vibe can also be felt with features from jungle and dancehall pioneers General Levy and Tippa Irie as well as heavyweights of the grime scene Flowdan, Lady Chann and Killa P. Fellow French artists are also in the spotlight with guests such as Big Red, O.B.F and Manudigital. To complete this amazing cast, L’Entourloop has once again called on the incomparable Troy Berkley from Bermuda and the talented trumpeter N’Zeng, formerly of Le Peuple de l’Herbe, to accompany the collective on the road alongwith a new addition – excellent Dutch rapper BlabberMouf, who has just joined the killer new live show.
L’Entourloop UK Tour 2024
05/10/2024- Liverpool (UK)- Hangar 34
06/10/2024- London (UK)- Village Underground – SOLD OUT
07/10/2024- London (UK)- Village Underground
08/10/2024- Bristol (UK)- Trinity Center- SOLD OUT
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