Alice Russell is universally acclaimed as one of the best modern soul voices of our time, while her raw talent and charisma commands attention and affection. The much-loved British soulstress returns with the most personal album of her career, 'I Am' is vulnerable and bold, while addressing how we must all work on ourselves to heal – so that we can love and connect with those and the world around us more honestly and deeply.
Life, loss and grief have been a central part of this period and a new approach to creating music: “Two little ones have joined me, and one has left - my Dad passed away the summer after ‘To Dust’ was released. The day after my Dad’s funeral, I found out I was pregnant with my first little one.” Alice continues: “The grief journey has cracked me open and created a more urgent need to be focused and try to go deeper with how I communicate creatively and who I AM today, and I welcome it with open arms”.
Written and produced alongside long-time collaborator TM Juke, 'I Am' is the first offering of new music from the iconic singer in over a decade and marks a new era in the remarkable career of the down-to-earth vocal powerhouse. In summer 2023 Alice graced the main stage of Gilles Peterson’s We Out Here, supported Nile Rogers and performed as part of a tribute to Aretha Franklin across France, marking her return to the stage, where she belongs.
‘I Am’ is named after the titular and thematic track, and is a song that allowed Alice to articulate something that she had long felt but hadn’t fully understood: “I had started therapy soon after my first child was born, and it opened up a bigger understanding of myself and some relationships that had shaped my emotional landscape.” Dealing with themes of generational trauma, healing and life’s darker side, ‘I Am’ acts as a liberating beacon, showing that we can all be our biggest lovers and advocates, “finding our own power, clear boundaries, and doing the work on ourselves to love so much more deeply.”
Whether performing on a huge stage with a 16-piece band, charming four thousand revellers into staying out dancing in the rain (as at the Montreal Jazz Festival) or rocking an intimate club, Alice’s raw talent and charisma command attention and affection. Unfazed by taking the spotlight after Amy Winehouse, singing with The Roots in Philly, or joining Roy Ayers for “Everybody Loves The Sunshine'', it is no wonder she has attracted worldwide media support, and fans as diverse as Gilles Peterson, Jamie Cullum, Dennis Coffey, Massive Attack’s Daddy G and Groove Armada. Other career highlights include performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live, NPR’s Tiny Desk Session, SXSW, BBC 6Music Live at Maida Vale and being synced on the trailer for the huge final series of Mad Men.
Highly in demand as an eminent vocalist, Alice has previously guested alongside Fatboy Slim on Talking Heads frontman David Byrne’s solo LP, as well as collaborations with the likes of Mr Scruff, Quantic, DJ Yoda and Nostalgia 77. However, it is her solo records with longtime musical partner TM Juke that she is best known for, and they have borne some of the most arresting blues and soul since the glory days of Aretha. “We’ve both got a very open approach to writing songs,” Alice explains of the prolific relationship, “Our influences run from Sarah Vaughan to Bach, Kate Bush to Arvo Part, and J Dilla to Alice Coltrane. We love everything from dirty, squelchy dubstep to old-school soul. We nudge each other in the right direction.”
