Here’s one for the weekend. Ahead of his debut album, we’ve got an exclusive listen of 1000 Beasts’ laidback neo-soul team up with frequent Soft Boy Records collaborator Célia Tiab.

As we exit the claustrophobic settings of the past 12 months, it’s only right we have the right music to soundtrack our day trips to the shoreline and the first sweet sip of vino on the weekend.

It’s easy to say a song sounds like summer, but few activate the rest of our senses as effortlessly as ‘NYCBB’. Dripping in aromatic textures and sun-kissed lyricism, the link-up from Célia Tiab and 1000 Beasts shares DNA with the warmth of quintessential Jill Scott anthems whilst channelling its own distinctive freewheeling energy.

The track lands after French singer Célia Tiab teamed up with Bangor producer and Soft Boy Records artist Brién and more recently featured on Kojaque‘s debut album Town’s Dead, where she co-wrote ‘Casio‘ and co-starred in ‘Sex N’ Drugs’.

Meanwhile, 1000 Beasts released his debut EP On A Different Page was released in July 2020.

Speaking on the collaboration 1000 Beasts said,”I first heard of Célia through her collaboration with Brién on ‘Can I Lie With U‘ which was so beautiful. I was a fan from that moment, I reached out to her with a few tracks at the start of the lockdown last year and she vibed with ‘NYCBB‘, I think she sent some vocals back to me the next day and that was pretty much the whole track finished, they were that good.”

“This is probably the most neosoul or soultronic track on the record but I really wanted to experiment with the genre and the different contrasting sounds of soul with electronic elements like the cwo filter on my OP1 to make some weird textures.” 

Meanwhile Célia said, “It was really interesting working on this tune. For the first time, I was not identifying the track with my own music, and therefore I really had a lot of fun, without thinking of making it emotional or complicated. The lyrics and the melody you’re hearing were my first drafts, and I’m glad Cian was happy with it, because they depict the carefree state of mind I was in when I was working on it. It sounds just like the synthesis of collaborating with someone I’ve never seen before, and getting out of my comfort zone in terms of songwriting and delivery. Such a fun experience!” 

Listen to ‘NYCBB‘ below:

Previous first listen: Strange Boy battles the bottle in ‘Sorrow’.

District has teamed up with Tullamore D.E.W to celebrate Ireland’s evolving identity with the short film ‘More Than Ever’. Featuring words written by Felispeaks and performed by up-and-coming spoken word artist Adam Mohamed, it sees the poet explore the Island and its increasingly rich and diverse culture. The video can be watched in full here. Sip Tullamore D.E.W. responsibly.