Latest news with #SAULT
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Friendship Breakups Suck. Little Simz Turned Hers Into Gold on ‘Lotus'
Since she was a kid, Simbiatu Ajikawo has had a low tolerance for disloyalty. There are quick quips lambasting snakes throughout her acclaimed discography, and even at eleven years old, she spit, 'I'm Little Simz and I set trends/Don't like liars/I hate fake friends,' when her older sister took her to rap at BBC's Radio 1 Xtra. Her real breakthrough as Little Simz came much later, with 2018's Grey Area, which was nominated for the U.K.'s prestigious Mercury Prize, then 2021's Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, which won it. She followed that with No Thank You, which rebuked the music industry she was by all-appearances thriving in as something much darker and more draining than it looked. Inflo – the musician who's been tapped by Adele and Tyler, The Creator, and who's shaped the mysterious collective SAULT with Simz and his wife, Cleo Sol – produced all three of Simz's last albums. Simz has openly coveted her creative partnership with Inflo, a bond they began building when she was 9 years old. Then, in March, The Guardian reported that she was suing him, born Dean Josiah Cover, for allegedly failing to repay a $2.2 million loan – that went, in part, towards SAULT's only live performance in 2023 – which she says eventually left her unable to pay her taxes and subject to penalties. More from Rolling Stone Little Simz Previews Upcoming Album 'Lotus' With Cinematic 'Flood' Video Coldplay Tap Little Simz, Burna Boy for Hopeful Single 'We Pray' Watch Michael J. Fox Join Coldplay on Guitar at Glastonbury 'Why do you steal? Why do you spill blood and then go hide?' Simz raps on 'Thief,' the jarring opener to Lotus, her sixth album and first without Inflo in seven years. 'Why do you take the rule book from people that hurt you and use it as a guide?/I'm lucky that I got out now, it's a shame though, I really feel sorry for your wife.' The song thrashes like 1990s grunge and Simz is absolutely cutthroat on it, evoking the eerie menace of Kendrick Lamar's whopping Drake diss 'Euphoria.' The public nature of her fallout with Inflo and how readily she tackles it on Lotus makes it a distinctly personal entry to her oeuvre – listening feels more like living in her skin than any project she's done before. There's a meta-allusion to the way she refuses to bury her truth under convoluted poetic flourishes when she tells Wretch 32 not to do the same on 'Blood,' where she and her fellow British rapper trade bars as they portray siblings in a fight. Lotus is an excellent album, in part because songs like 'Thief' and 'Blood' are so uncomfortable, like peering at a nasty accident on the side of the highway and feeling more alive because of it. In the aftermath of an imploded childhood friendship, Lotus is a rigorous ode to the trauma and wisdom of truly growing up. Lotus is also an excellent album because of its deeply textured and expansive production, a satisfying victory given the circumstances. On 'Lonely,' she frets, 'Lonely making an album is tackling all doubt/I'm used to making it with [there's censor beep instead of a name], can I do it without?' Yet, under new producer Miles Clinton James, all the album's instrumentals are crisp, careful, and raw, whether they're the rugged rock of the 'Thief,' 'Flood,' 'Young,' 'Enough,' and 'Lotus,' the jazzy R&B of 'Lonely' and 'Free,' the stripped down acoustics of 'Peace,' the softly orchestral lament of 'Hallow,' the vintage Afrobeat of 'Lion,' or buoyant bossa nova of 'Only.' Where Lotus is fun, it's unforced, and where it is grave, it's understated. The album does retain some of the airy, gentle essence of Simz's prior work with Inflo, Cleo Sol, and Sault, a band in which the latter two women were the defining voices amongst mostly shrouded collaborators. The similarities, though, feel like Simz staking her claim to a sound she was integral in pushing forward. Little Simz's hard-earned sense of self-worth courses through the album. Much of her best rapping here blossomed from hardship – that, in fact, is what a lotus is, a flower that can bloom out of mud. 'I know my mind is a textbook they can learn from even though I ain't got a diploma,' she says on 'Blue,' in the middle of a calm but relentless flow full of empathetic reflections on poverty, incarceration, family, and death. 'Free' is a particularly moving trove of wisdom, expertly crafted with subtle foreshadowing between a cunning first verse on what love really is and a second on how fear threatens it. 'I think that shit is a lethal weapon,' she says. Though Lotus finds Simz rapping as victim and survivor, it's filled with empathy for just how hard the human experience is, even for her tormentor, whose own pain she acknowledges. 'I don't expect you're not flawed person/But thought you was good at the core person,' she says on 'Hallow,' before reiterating an idea from 'Thief,' that the real resolution she needs is internal: 'I'm tryna forgive myself,' she says there. 'I don't need to forgive you so I can heal.' Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Time Out
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
All Points East has announced Cleo Sol as its next 2025 headliner
Festival season is in full swing, folks. Things kicked off a few weeks back with Field Day and Gala Festival, shortly followed by Mighty Hoopla and LIDO. And there's much, much more to look forward to. Among the festivals still to come is All Points East, which returns to Vicky Park in August. RAYE and Chase & Status are among the headliners that have already been announced for the multi-weekend event. Now, it's been revealed that acclaimed soul singer Cleo Sol will be topping the bill on the festival's opening night, in her biggest headline slot to date. On the same day, there'll be an opportunity to witness an incredibly rare performance from the mysterious multi-genre collective SAULT (led by Cleo herself and producer Inflo). Here's all the information you need to make sure you don't miss out. When is Cleo Sol playing All Points East? Cleo Sol is headlining the festival on Friday, August 15. Who else is on the lineup? Cleo will be joined by reggae artist Chronixx and anonymous collective SAULT, in what will be their second ever live performance following an appearance at Drumsheds in 2023. All Points East has promised that more names will be announced in the lead up to the festival. When do tickets go on sale? Tickets for Cleo Sol's headline show will go on general sale at 10am on Thursday, June 12. They'll be up for grabs here. Is there a presale? If you want tickets before anyone else you can sign up to the APE Presale here before 9.59pm on Tuesday, June 10. Those tickets will go live at 10am on Wednesday, June 11. There's also an American Express early sale that's live right now and open until Thursday for anyone who owns an American Express Card. How much will tickets cost? Based on presale, tickets for Cleo Sol, SAULT and Chronixx start from £89.95 (plus service fees). Tickets for the other All Points East dates have started from £64.95. Who else is headlining All Points East 2025? Chase & Status are headline on August 15, joined by Overmono, Sammy Virji and Nia Archives. Edinburgh producer and DJ Barry Can't Swim will headline on August 22, joined by Confidence Man, Shygirl. The next day, pop superstar RAYE will top the bill, supported by the likes of Doechii, Tyla and JADE. August 24 will see the return of the Maccabees, bolstered by a support bill that includes Bombay Bicycle Club, CMAT and Black Country, New Road.
Los Angeles Times
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Enigmatic, British singer Cleo Sol makes her long-awaited L.A. debut at Hollywood Bowl
After years of quietly releasing center stage-worthy music yet averting the spotlight, British singer-songwriter Cleo Sol made her long-awaited debut on Friday night at the Hollywood Bowl. The concert took place just days after she performed stateside for the first time during a three-show run at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. The energy inside the 17,000-capacity, sold-out amphitheater was palatable as attendees, both new and old, understood two things: This was a rare opportunity to witness the prolific R&B singer perform, and that her deeply healing music was going to move them emotionally and spiritually. (Before the show started, several people in the crowd near me said they were ready to cry — and so was I.) Backed by an 11-member band including five background singers — all of whom had distinguishable tones and felt like they'd been handpicked by Cleo Sol herself — she opened the show at 9 p.m. with the introspective 'Rewind' from 2020's 'Rose in the Dark,' before effortlessly flowing into the project's next track, 'Rose in the Dark.' Clad in a gold-toned silk dress, Cleo Sol smiled brightly and playfully danced across the stage as she ran through other fan favorites from 'Rose in the Dark' including the seductive and jazzy 'When I'm in Your Arms,' romantic 'Sideways' and the yearning 'I Love You' and encouraging 'Young Love.' Without the aid of a back track, her soulful and silky voice carried throughout the large venue as she riffed and showed off her impressive vocal range. In between songs, she sipped on an electrolyte-filled drink, which she joked was helping her get through the night. Cleo Sol, who is also the lead vocalist for the equally elusive U.K.-based collective SAULT, could've easily dipped into their robust catalog — which spans 11 studio albums and two EPs — during Friday night's set. Instead, she chose to stick to her solo offerings, pulling from 2021's 'Mother' and her 2023 releases 'Heaven' and 'Gold,' which arrived two weeks apart. (She gave a shout out to her husband, Inflo — her producer and the mastermind behind SAULT — who was in attendance.) During her song 'Heart Full of Love,' which she dedicated to her son, Cleo Sol joined her background vocalists and sat on a stool. As they sang the lyrics, 'Thank you for sending me an angel straight from Heaven / When my hope was gone, you made me strong,' the crowd lit up the venue by holding their cellphones in the air and rocking from side to side. 'This is making me emotional, I'm gonna cry,' she said to the audience. 'It looks beautiful from up here.' More than halfway through the nearly two-hour show, Cleo Sol briefly left the altar and resurfaced in the stands, toward the middle of the venue to sing 'Know That You Are Loved.' She performed the deeply affirmative track that feels like both a mantra and a lullaby in the same fashion that she did during her viral Royal Albert Hall show in 2023 — getting closer to her fans, touching their hands and singing to them directly. Her tender vocal performance felt like a gigantic hug from a loved one. She then returned to the stage to perform the powerful 'Life Will Be,' which felt like a perfect ending, before running back out yet again to sing an electrifying encore of 'Why Don't You' from her 'Rose in the Dark' project. 'OK, one more!' she said, laughing. Much like her R&B predecessors, Sade and D'Angelo, who are also known for being reclusive and charting their own territory, Cleo Sol's performance on Friday proved that when you truly love what you do and the music comes first, you don't have to play into the industry's never-ending rat race. Cleo Sol follows the divine timing of her life and does what feels right for her, which has paid off in the long run. She's a testament to the fact that although fans might not want to wait for new music or to see her perform live, they'll excitedly show up for her whenever she's ready.
