ALTHOUGH she’ll be a new name to many, Zimbabwe-born Londoner Eska has built an inimitable reputation as a writer and performer through collaborations with such legends of the game as Grace Jones, Cinematic Orchestra, Zero 7 and Bobby McFerrin.
This month she steps out onto the solo stage with a knockout debut album, Gatekeeper, which has the UK music press in a frenzy, and which led Gilles Peterson to call her “the UK’s finest singer right now”.
Now she is heading to Mount Pleasant Eco Park on Thursday, May 14 for an exclusive Cornish date that includes just four other UK venues.
With co-productions from The Invisible’s David Okumu and electronic star Matthew Herbert, who has previously remixed tracks for Björk, REM and Yoko Ono, Gatekeeper is sure to be unlike anything you’ve heard all year.
From its hypnotic opener This Is How A Garden Grows, the album weaves a shimmering, intoxicating magic across numerous genres and styles, with hints of folk, soul, psychedelia and electronica.
Live, and with support from a six-piece musical collective, her performance promises to be the kind that you’ll remember being at for years to come.
Support on the night comes from Truro singer-songwriter Sam Powell, whose sound lies somewhere between José Gonzalez and Mat Corby, performing songs from his recently released EP, The Secret Garden Café.
This article was originally published by The West Briton
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