Sekito レコード& CD

Review: Alfa Mist is a UK musician, producer and composer born in Newham, London. One of the members of Are We Live, a creative quartet that also includes Tom Misch, Jordan Rakei and Barney Artist. On his latest album for UK label Sekito titled Bring Backs, he goes back to his roots of his beat-making past on the streets of East London, as well as incorporating his jazz influences. From the smoky jazz bar loops of opener 'Keep On' to the uplifting urban blues of 'Breath' (feat Kaya Thomas-Dyke) to the sunny metro beats of 'Brian' - the LP is the most detailed exploration of his upbringing in musical form.

Review: Alfa Mist started out as a teen music maker by dabbling in hip-hop and grime and then went to college and taught himself piano. He self-released an album digitally that was picked up by YouTube's algorithm and rightfully suggested to millions of people who hadn't previously heard of it. Thankfully his newfound audience encouraged him to press his debut to wax and since then he has gone from strength to strength on multiple fronts. Nocturne followed and now gets repressed due to popular demand - it's a gorgeous mix of jazzy, hip-hop and broken beat.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Alfa Mist is a UK musician, producer and composer born in Newham, London. One of the members of Are We Live, a creative quartet that also includes Tom Misch, Jordan Rakei and Barney Artist. On his latest album for UK label Sekito titled Bring Backs, he goes back to his roots of his beat-making past on the streets of East London, as well as incorporating his jazz influences. From the smoky jazz bar loops of opener 'Keep On' to the uplifting urban blues of 'Breath' (feat Kaya Thomas-Dyke) to the sunny metro beats of 'Brian' - the LP is the most detailed exploration of his upbringing in musical form.

Review: Alfa Mist and Amika Quartet share a new ennead of never-heard-before tracks, alongside a few expansions on earlier releases: Recurring. An eternal return of saintly jazz and storytelling hip-hop, the record comes hot on the heels of Mist's recent Variables LP (2023) and the Manchester quartet's Amika's earlier 'Exist' release from earlier in 2024. The latter group have toured extensively with Alfa Mist in recent years, and the new live record notably foreruns its full release with a new exclusive, 'Checkpoint (Violence)', on which Mist not only drums, but at the same time MCs, with verve and flair. Here Mist concept-checks everything from modern-day apartheid to astrology (and exasperations thereof - "don't ask me your starsign"). Amika, meanwhile, embellish each mix with searing string arcos and long fibrous tugs, which seem, ironically, to assure us about the future, though they do lend the songs a demure mood: "don't fret".

Review: Thanks to a kindly YouTube algorithm, Alfa Mist's first album Antiphon spread far and wide and eventually made it on to wax (and has since been re-pressed seven times). Now the pianist is a core part of the ongoing jazz revival we're seeing in the UK. In 2014, before all that, though, he worked with Emmavie on this gorgeous EP of jazz tinged neo-soul. Its re-release has been much anticipated and it sounds as fresh now as ever, with lush chords and romantic late night grooves accompanied by heart-aching vocal work. It's a modern classic that reveals more on each listen.

Review: Popular-demand reissue of Emmavie and Alfa Mist's early-days project from 2014, 'Epoch', containing a new bonus song 'Energy'. This first time vinyl press is a must for any hardcore fan of UK jazz, beats and R&B, smushing the essence of Brit backstreet smoke into eight tracks, and with Emmavie's lyrics as ever dealing with lost love, injustice and emotional strain.