“A celebration of life through dance”: Ezra Collective release vibrant third album
After the release of singles from April that provided glimpses of their new album which has enraptured the crowds of their extensive festival circuit, performing at the likes of All Points East, Green Man Festival and Boomtown, Ezra Collective are back with their third studio album, Dance, No One’s Watching!
Photo by Aliyah Otchere
As the first jazz act to win the Mercury Prize in the award’s 31-year history, the quintet won the Prize in 2023 for their album Where I’m Meant to Be, an album that championed spirit and the celebration of life through the art of dance, an idea that transcends and trickles into Dance, No One’s Watching.
A play on of Mark Twain’s eminent and familiar quote, ‘dance like nobody's watching’, the removal of ‘like’ allows for an overt deconstruction of fear, removing the implication that you are being watched. Ezra Collective assures ‘No One’s Watching’ and we should therefore let loose and should celebrate and embrace the facets of life through the combination of dance and movement.
Their Mercury Prize speech was poignant and triumphal of community and collectivity: in their speech, Femi Koleoso states that the quintet met in a youth club, a space that they expressed gratitude for and encouraged the continual of support. Both the album’s title and their speech really encapsulates the spirit and beauty of their music.
Firstly, Dance, No One’s Watching is split into four acts, breaking conventions of traditional album structures that makes the album feel more of an experience as opposed to a passive listen. The use of breaking the 19-track album into acts creates an episodic and theatrical feel to the music, breaking up the album’s tracks that do not falter in energy and allowing the music to transcend and transform. Music is a transformative medium of art that goes hand in hand with dance and performance and Ezra Collective actively embraces this idea through the decorative album structure that is a musical guide of a night out in the city.
Intro immerses you into a party setting with the distant glimpses of conversation through a blur and distortion, somewhat reminiscent of the first track from Where I’m Meant to Be, Life Goes On featuring Sampa the Great - the collective’s consistency in their craft is admirable! Transitioning into The Herald, a smooth and soulful track that isolates the sax to create a bouncy quality and vitalise movement: I can envision this song being a true dancefloor filler. Palm Wine stands as an introspective instrumental with interludes of trumpet mid section to provide grace and groove before moving into Cloakroom Link Up (Act 1), a classical interlude indicative of a shift in the album. God Gave Me Feet For Dancing featuring Yazmin Lacey is a gorgeous celebration of life through an infectious beat and the proclamation ‘let the music change us’: this can be found as a testament to the transformative power of music and dance, viewing dance through a more introspective and spiritual lens. Its vibrancy verifies dance as a sacred and spiritualised act that is unifying; the combination of the beat and Lacey’s vocals compels the celebration of life through dance.
Ajala, the first single from Dance, No One’s Watching was released in April as the first glimpse of the album. A fusion of afrobeats and fusion to create a euphoric track with an instinctive desire to dance, drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso told Rolling Stones that ‘Ajala the Traveller is a journalist from Nigeria whose story is really beautiful. He decided that he wanted to travel the whole world on a moped and what ended up happening was his name became slang in Yoruba’ adding that it means ‘someone that can’t sit still… for me it’s also what a great drum beat does, it’s what great music does to me, it means I can’t sit still and I just want to move. Ajala is all about that movement.’ A song that exudes a high and unrelenting energy that does not tire at any point, it encapsulates the nomadic spirit of Ajala himself.
The Traveller seamlessly crossfades from Ajala into a track that feels episodic, indicative of the end of act one and the beginning of act two. In the Dance (Act 2) is a simple yet effective string solo transitioning into N29, a bus route that runs between Trafalgar Square and Enfield Town. This track feels reminiscent of Sun Ra’s synthesiser hand in hand with Jaco Pastorius’s bass while he was an active member in the jazz fusion band, Weather Report, through the textures and improvisation that contribute to a similar atmospheric quality. N29 is followed by No One’s Watching Me featuring Olivia Dean, Mercury-nominated for her album Messy, an album that is one of my favourite albums from last year as Dean has a soulful and airy voice to amplify the narratives of her lyricism that are undeniably comforting and real. Her radiance and realness is brought to this track backed by a toe-tapping tempo.
Entering into the third act, Our Element (Act 3) states in spoken word that ‘I’ll continue to dance till the end… dance is life and you can’t be angry when you’re dancing’. A reminder of the emphasis of dance to the album, before the melodic shift into an increased use of drums after a brief moment of catharsis in the second act. Hear My Cry blends seamlessly and brings a vibrant song fueled by the spirit of dance with its electric melodic textures. Shaking Body begins as blended in with the backdrop of metropolis, almost muted before being brought to the forefront of the track by a voice ‘still dancing. I’m loving it. It’s amazing’. It reminds me of the community spirit that Ezra Collective lives by, bringing in and inviting all to celebrate. Expensive follows as a neatly composed track that maintains a groovy bassline to move with ease into Streets is Calling featuring M.anifest & Moonchild Sanelly that transitions from soul to rap. Alluring and elusive, the rap stands incongruous to both Yazmin Lacey and Olivia Dean who bring the soulful sound, however the shift from genre creates a satisfying fusion that constitutes and consolidates their technical sound.
Lights On (Act 4) provides a conclusive interlude for the final quartet of the album, moving into Why I Smile that has some beautiful piano chords with a sustained bass to bring down the high energy down a notch, indicative of the album’s order of a night out in the city, the title itself, Why I Smile feels appreciative of the high life and the experiences of the night.The penultimate song, Have Patience feels relaxed and stripped back, with only the use of the piano to slow down the rhythm of the sustained energy. Everybody finalises the album with a melodic and chilled sound that also bursts with exuberance to leave the album on a high.
The product of improvisation and excellent collaboration, Dance, No One’s Watching is a stunning and sustained art piece that maintains the desire to dance, unmatched by any other artist or group. The stimulus that dance is sacred and can be spiritual is sustained throughout and remains at the forefront of their album. Dance, No One’s Watching is an undeniable chef d’œuvre: its curation to create a musical odyssey of a night out in the city, the constant flow of unfaltering energy, the beautiful collaborations with Olivia Dean, Yazmin Lacey and M.anifest & Moonchild Sanelly, Ezra Collective’s anticipated, third album did not disappoint! An absolute masterclass in modern jazz and jazz fusion with an unmatched eloquence and vibrancy, Ezra Collective are a quintet not to miss live as they embark on an EU tour at the end of September until the middle of November.
Listen to Dance, No One’s Watching! now.