Jude Woodhead follows up ‘Beautiful Rain’ with new single ‘For The Birds’

JUDE WOODHEAD

Jude Woodhead follows up ‘Beautiful Rain’ with new single ‘For The Birds‘

Out via Just Off Pop

Jude Woodhead ~ For The Birds

“Woodhead’s world music infused sound is purely euphoric” – BEAT
“quite stunning to hear the omnivorous nature and the sumptuous production” – The 405
“channels a mature sense of musicality and world influence that far surpasses any expectations of a twenty-year-old” – The Line of Best Fit
“this South Londoner has the potential to release something pristine, while grinning like ear to ear” – Gigwise

At only twenty, classically trained South Londoner Jude Woodhead already sounds fully formed. Emerging out of the same London scene that brought us King Krule, his follow up release ‘For The Birds’, out via Just Off Pop, joins the melodic ideas of world music with a slick modern electronic approach, Jude’s collaging style ends up feeling as big as his most surprising influences: Paul Simon and Jeff Buckley.
Following on from the debut release ‘Beautiful Rain‘, ‘For The Birds’ enwraps itself around a tender Arabic vocal line. It’s all nuance and subtle build-up, as a four-on-the-floor beat and beautiful synth hooks float out of the building sonic mass. It’s music guided by the euphoria of crossing boundaries.
“I began work on ‘For The Birds’ way back in 2015, but the instrumental was finished about a year later. It was originally based around a Lebanese vocal sample but the final version was sung by an artist friend of mine called Rachida. The song has been through many forms; I started the tune in 2015, but the bulk of the work was done over a period of about two months in 2016, when I was living at uni. I was pretty isolated at University and the music I was making was kind of a reaction to that; trying to make the kind of tunes that reflected what I wanted out of life at that point. This track has been shelved away a couple of times, and almost deleted at one point, but it feels good to have it finally coming out.”
While picking up the trumpet at seven, and starting out as a producer at eleven, Jude was inspired by his dad’s collection of Congolese and South African records and classic songwriters. In his teenage years he found artists like Floating Points and Four Tet and started crafting a sound that utilised everything he ever learned about the music he’s loved to make a style that’s currently attracting interest from some of Europe’s biggest labels. It’s Jude’s strong identity as a person, trusting in the things he loves no matter how seemingly incompatible they maybe, that has made him the strong producer he is today.
As a DJ, Jude can be heard hosting shows on Balamii Radio, holding down a bi-monthly slot at Jaguar Shoes (Shoreditch) or appearing at some of Peckham’s best-loved spots. The summer of 2018 brings the release of Jude’s debut single and first live set. It’s the first concrete step he’s making in the industry, but he arrives fully-formed, and with his youth still long ahead of him, there is no doubt that he will make a space for himself that no other artist would be able to imitate convincingly.

“Beautiful Rain/For The Birds” is out now on Just Off Pop

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