joyride is the title track from her upcoming EP which will be released on May 13 via 70Hz, owned by her mentor, producer and close collaborator Fraser T. Smith.
joyride pairs sunny, bright guitar strings with sharp synth percussion; a windows-wide-open track about, as Mysie puts it, “love not aligning”. The track has already picked up top support at radio, with spins from Radio 1’s Clara Amfo & Jack Saunders, 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins, & 1Xtra’s Jamz Supernova – all in the first week.
The new ‘joyride’ EP is a project about the turmoil of love, and how we change as people as it starts to fall apart. It follows on from ‘Undertones’, acting as a counterpoint to what last year’s EP stood for: a mature and smart look at love’s dissolution, written as it happened. “joyride is about holding on and eventually letting go” explains Mysie. “All the lessons I’ve learned about myself during the ride never stop”.
With a game changing Ivor Novello win in 2020 and a slew of bold, progressive releases under her belt now, Mysie continues to delve deep within herself, making intimate indie soul music that takes her listeners along with her on a journey through raw and sensitive emotional spaces.
“I loved every minute of making this video especially working with Duran Abdullah on the choreography, we wanted to capture elements of Shway Style in the movement, which naturally has a lot of afro & salsa influence”.
As a child, the music in Mysie’s home, played by her parents and through her own speakers, prophesied the arrival of a future star; a young black woman with an immense presence and songwriting prowess. The likes of Alicia Keys, Chaka Khan and Sadé were introduced to her by her parents. It acted as an invaluable introduction to the sounds that would, in part, inspire Mysie’s own.
She was the one who chose to make music her calling. Not since her grandfather Israel Magembe, a man credited with bringing jazz music from Congo to Uganda with his band Kampala City Six, had an instant relative decided to become an outward-facing musician, despite her family’s talent. It was a dream that manifested early.
The music she would move to as a dancer in her youth played a key part in widening her musical influences, showing her how the concept of genre could bend through an artist’s worldview. The likes of J Dilla, Thundercat and Flying Lotus introduced her to the alternative scene that would grow wider as she explored its depths, uncovering more influential artists that inspire her today, like Sampha and Moses Sumney.
