British artist Che Lingo today announces details of his new album Coming Up For Air, out 6th April via 7Wallace. The announcement comes accompanied by new single ‘Out The Blue,’ the album’s second offering following his recent collaboration with the legendary Roger Taylor and Queen, ‘My Radio,’ which amassed a million streams in just two weeks.
Built on lush strings and flowing instrumentation, ‘Out The Blue’ sees Che delve into his anxieties and traumas as he makes a brave call to break out of the cycle of pressures, inherited and personal, that he and so many suffer from. The symbol of drowning in one's problems, a theme central to Coming Up For Air, is powerfully brought home through the striking Reece Selvadorai-directed video - watch here.
The follow up to his critically acclaimed, AIM Awards nominated debut, 2020’s The Worst Generation, Coming Up For Air is Che at his most open and affecting, unpacking a period in which he battled grief, addiction and illness.
Speaking on the album, Che says:
“CUFA is an intimate and personal look at myself and the people like me who find it hard to see themselves sometimes. It’s for the moments you hate your job, or you're emotionally exhausted, finding it hard to see what makes you valuable. It’s a place to get lost and escape and remember what and who you value within your life and purpose. I’ve had a number of months to sit with myself and unpack a lot of things, some of which I’m still exploring (or battling) after experiencing losing family members, sustaining terrible injuries, distancing from friends and relationship struggles, money issues, even an eating disorder. The CUFA album in my own way is to let people know that they aren’t alone in these trails.
Waves of depression and confidence, financial instability and love. It all starts with you and we always have to start from zero again a number of times in life, the bottom of that dark silent bed of dust and sediment is where we find our own ways to breathe.”
Music video director Reece Selvadorai added: "Teaming up with Che Lingo to create the visual for 'Out The Blue' was special, to say the least. He allowed me and the team to explore and express our creativity with this emotionally captivating track using our emotional connection to the lyrics. With the main theme being water helped us form subtle and sharp movements giving Che the motion to express his feelings through underwater movement; we wanted to depict the struggle physically while we allow the audio to connect with the visuals giving the viewers an insight into Che Lingo journey throughout the track. This visual was such a pleasure to work on with Che, opening our eyes to everyone's personal journeys throughout life."
Che Lingo’s discography alone won’t tell you the full story of his rise to becoming one of the most compelling alternative UK hip-hop artists around. His journey started out over a decade ago making music in South West London youth clubs and his deeply honest and relatable music has seen him create some major highlights along the way, from his COLORS session for track ‘Zuko’, to playing Glastonbury, selling out his UK tour, being signed to Idris Elba’s 7Wallace label and picking up a nomination for Best Independent Album at the AIM Awards for his 2020 debut The Worst Generation.
Alongside co-signs from the likes of Ghetts, Stormzy and Dave and collaborations with Audemars Piguet, Che has also used his status to fight social injustice; confronting police brutality in the UK with his iconic track ‘My Block’, becoming the face of the BLACK DREAMS MATTER campaign and featuring in Channel 4’s series The Whole Truth about mental health, music and racism. Coming Up For Air is set to cement Che’s position as one of the UK rap’s most vital voices.
Che will be touring Coming Up For Air across 17 UK & European cities in April and May. Tickets available below.
Coming Up For Air tracklist:
Intro
Jaded
Out The Blue
Consumeriddm
Lowkey
Fighting Giants
Heart Race feat. WIINSTON
Very Couture feat. Kojey Radical
Private Dinners feat. Jordan Mackampa
My Radio feat. Queen, Roger Taylor
CHE LINGO UK & EUROPEAN HEADLINE TOUR DATES:
12th Apr: Melkweg Upstairs - Amsterdam, Netherlands
14th Apr: Helios37 - Cologne, Germany
15th Apr: La Boule Noire - Paris, France
16th Apr: Botanique - Brussels, Belgium
19th Apr: Poetry Club SWG3 - Glasgow, UK
20th Apr: YES - Manchester, UK
21st Apr: Academy 3 - Birmingham, UK
23rd Apr: Lafayette - London, UK
25th Apr: Green Door Store - Brighton, UK
26th Apr: Louisiana - Bristol, UK
27th Apr: Hyde Park Book Club - Leeds, UK
29th Apr: Workman’s - Dublin, Ireland
14th May: Kuudes Linja - Helsinki, Finland
16th May: Hus 7 - Stockholm, Sweden
20th May: Lille Vega - Copenhagen, Denmark
21st May: Voxhall - Aarhus, Denmark
23rd May: Privat Club - Berlin, Germany
Search and buy tour tickets below right now through our trusted partner Ticketmaster.
