Goldie and Fallen Tree 1Hundred proudly present the next single from London singer-songwriter, Natalie Duncan – Reworked live by fellow label mates, Cian McCann and Dominic Purcell aka Searchlight.
For the recording of new songs for Fallen Tree 1Hundred, releasing every few months throughout 2022 and into 2023, Natalie teamed up with musician friends close to her heart – Long-time collaborators Richard Spaven on drums and Alan Mian on bass, along with synth programmer Laurence Jepson, guitarist Rashaan Brown and up and coming producer/engineer in the studio, Chris Hewitt.
Natalie speaks of the original mix of ‘Let Go Release’ …. “I wrote the ostinato-style piano motif initially… I thought this song had the potential to be just an instrumental, but then I started playing around with vocal melodies and lyrics and decided it was even better for it. Because of the musical depth and the odd 7/4-time signature, I wanted to make sure the vocal lines were simple in melody and that the structure was repetitive. It builds to a crescendo at the end of the song, which then releases beautifully into just the piano chords, drums and bass.”
On remix duties and fresh from the release of their debut album, fellow Fallen Tree 1Hundred act Searchlight take Let Go Release into all new territory. Showing their drum and bass production roots, Searchlight rework the song fully live – moving the arrangement over time from its down-tempo beginnings to an ethereal, classic-aged drum and bass climax. It’s hard not to draw comparisons to or 4hero’s seminal remix of Nuyoricansoul’s Black Gold of the Sun here, hopeful and soaked in warm strings, epic brass tones and the spirit of Charles Stepney… it’s something of a masterpiece.
Let Go / 11th November
Natalie Duncan Bio:
Nottingham-raised singer/songwriter/pianist Natalie Duncan’s excellent piano playing, and expressive, lyrical voice first came to the attention of those in the know in 2009, at the age of 18, with the release of her debut EP “Natalie Alexis Duncan”. However, it was in 2011 and her involvement in the BBC programme “Goldie’s Band By Royal Appointment”, the three-part series that was the brainchild of drum and bass pioneer Goldie, that she came to wider attention.
Following her appearances on the show, she was signed to Decca Records and produced her first album “Devil in Me”, which was released in 2012 to considerable acclaim with the Guardian declaring “An incandescent star is born”. Towards the end of that same year, she appeared on “Later with Jools Holland” which led to her touring as support for the band Muse.
After returning from Thailand where Goldie facilitated the recording, Duncan released her second album “Free” in the summer of 2020 on Goldie’s Fallen Tree 1Hundred – the album that launched the label. She received excellent critical acclaim from publications including Mojo and Blues and Soul. Echoes and Bandcamp made ‘Free’ their album of the month and Jazz FM awarded record of the week. Duncan launched the album with a live, intimate recording from Ronnie Scott’s and followed that up with a seminal show at London’s Jazz Café.
Back in 2019 and in the spring of 2022, Natalie teamed up with Goldie once more as a guest vocalist on his and James Davidson’s Subjective project. Along with performing as a guest vocalist for the Subjective live shows in the fall and her own sell-out live shows back at Ronnie Scott’s, Natalie is set to join legendary Jazz-funk band Incognito as a vocalist for their 2022 tour.
https://www.instagram.com/natalieduncanmusic/