Nubya Garcia

A beautiful record that really grows into itself, starting with a subtle allure that blossoms and then blooms into the sort of rhapsodic smoky jazz that feels like an entire world of its own - buy a ticket, take the trip.

Her second LP is a majestic feat on which she blends orchestral arrangements with R&B, jazz, broken beat and dub, resulting in a grand, nuanced record that feels airy and celestial without sacrifcing the groove. It’s a deeply personal offering about her trek to falling back in love with musical composition over the past four years. Nubya Garcia isn’t an artist you can easily classify. Is it jazz? Sure, the London-born saxophonist, composer and bandleader grew up studying the genre under the noted pianist, Nikki Yeoh at Camden Music. But it isn’t until you listen to albums like 2020’s 'Source' and 2024’s 'Odyssey' that you hear broader creativity shining through: It’s jazz, classical, dub, R&B and whatever else Garcia wants to convey. It all comes from a place of exploration and self-study, of wanting to do all the things across all disciplines while ignoring arbitrary boxes that don’t test her.