Alice Russell returns with new album ‘I Am’
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.
‘I Am’ is released on marble vinyl, black vinyl, CD, cassette and digital, buy or listen now HERE
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.
The album was announced with Alice sharing the emotive lead single ‘I See You’, a piano ballad about overcoming adversity despite experiencing trauma through childhood, and the idea that other people’s narratives of who they think they are, doesn’t ever need to become true. Talking about ‘I See You’, Alice explains: “I felt like I was singing to the child, but also the child that dwells in many seemingly grown-up people, walking around their sadness and pain, arrested development as no one ever showed them the way and let’s face it, takes a certain kind of allowance, safety and strength to be ready for therapy, and many don’t get to that point of being able to see their own beauty.”
Initially recorded for Brighton Festival, Alice and TM Juke were approached by Lemonade (a location-based music exploration platform) to compose a song on the festival’s theme of ‘Care’ – picked by guest curator, author and broadcaster Lemn Sissay. ‘I See You’ was auditorily placed around Brighton, where attendees wandering around would get to hear the song in specific locations.
Expanding on the themes of new album ‘I Am’, Alice has spoken about 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”.
‘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.”
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. Alice will be celebrating the release of ‘I Am’ at Village Underground in London on Tuesday 23rd April – info and tickets HERE – followed by festival dates at Cheltenham Jazz Festival and Love Supreme.
‘I Am’ is release on marble vinyl, black vinyl, CD, cassette and digital. Buy ‘I Am’ HERE
