As the world sinks deeper into screens and algorithms blur the line between creation and imitation, Nubiyan Twist return with Chasing Shadows, a record that reclaims the pulse, warmth and spontaneity of human connection.
The band’s fifth studio album is a rich and restless blend of jazz, afrobeat, hip hop and electronic textures, exploring the space between the organic and the digital. It’s music that moves, sweats, and breathes, made by real people in real rooms with heavyweight features bringing together varied voices from the music community which they inhabit.
Bandleader and producer Tom Excel explains: “We wanted to make something that felt joyous and defiantly human — something that couldn’t exist without that connection between people. You can get an AI to write a fugue in seconds, but it can’t capture the chemistry and chaos that happens when musicians lock in together. Chasing Shadows is our way of holding onto that.”
Folowing 2024’s acclaimed Find Your Flame, Chasing Shadows pushes the band’s sound further into new soulful territory under Exce l’s expert guidance, featuring bright new vocalist Eniola and a glowing cast of icons and innovators. Malian star Fatoumata Diawara lights up the title track on a powerful slice of Afrobeat, Joe Armon Jones leads the dub workout ‘Rhythm Of You’ and the band take it back to their hip hop roots on great collabs with The Pharcyde’s Booty Brown, Ghanaian MC M.anifest and London dancehall favourite, Mr Wi liamz.
Released: March 2026
Cat: STRUT507LPC
Label: Strut
Listen
Tracklist
1. Azimuth
2. Chasing Shadows (Ft. Fatoumata Diawara)
3. Red Herring (Ft. Bootie Brown)
4. How Far (Ft. M.Anifest)
5. Sunlight
6. Message (Ft Mr Williamz)
7. Mlonje: Voices Joined (Ft.The Zawsoe Queens)
8. Echoes
9. Body Flows
10. Threads (Ft. Patrice Rushen)
11. Rhythm of You (Ft. Joe Armon-Jones)