“Largely defined by her trailblazing play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry died in 1965 at the age of thirty-four. A prolific and probing artist, she was also one of the most radical, courageous, and prescient artist-intellectuals of the twentieth century—and one of the least understood.”
— Imani Perry

Drawing from Lorraine Hansberry’s recorded speeches and interviews, we’ve assembled a body of interrelated narratives and composed 12 tracks around them. These narratives address not only the burning issues of Lorraine’s past, present and future but, through her extraordinary vision, ours as well. Complimented by additional posthumous words from Coretta Scott King and EF Schumacher along with bridges to the present drawn by UK poet Mr Gee, a compelling portrait of an extraordinary woman emerges.

The aphelion is the point in the orbit of an object when it is furthest from the sun. Metaphorically speaking, the world of today feels further from the light than ever before. Lorraine Hansberry was among the few in her time who recognised that we are heading in perilous directions. Through her depth of historical knowledge she understood that this hadn’t changed much over many centuries as we’ve remained unable to widely perceive the underlying mechanics of our world. Alas, the world she fought so hard to illuminate still has a dangerously dim outlook. We need her light now more than ever to help guide us out of the darkness.

This tribute is, perhaps selfishly, a way of keeping Lorraine Hansberry alive and hopefully expanding the reach of her legacy. As long as she’s still talking and people are still listening, some part of her lives in the present. To us, in these dark times, that is a deeply comforting thought.

Aphelion: a tribute to Lorraine Hansberry is available on Limited Edition Clear Marbled Vinyl.

Buy on Vinyl

Aphelion: a tribute to Lorraine Hansberry

Words and speech by Lorraine Hansberry
Additional vocals by Seth Mowshowitz
Music written, arranged, mixed & mastered by Seth Mowshowitz
Performed by Fold along with the following:
Horn Arrangements – Emma Johnson
Saxophones – Emma Johnson
Simon Dennis – Trumpet
Rosie Nicholl – Trombone
Violins – Kieran O’Malley

LYRICS

Intelligence. Reason. Science. Concrete things change the universe… and I hope so.

I rather admire this human quality to make our own crutches as long as we need them. The only thing I’m saying is that once we can walk, you know, then drop them.

Intelligence. Reason. Science. Concrete things change the universe… and I hope so.

People say that there is no difference between today and the past but of course there is. Of course each generation brings a triumph of rationality.

We don’t need mysticism to exalt man; man exalts himself by his achievements and his power to rationalise… or EXCUSE me his power to reason! [Laughs] His rationalisation has its benefits too, I don’t know if we could get along without that either.

…once we can walk, you know, then drop them.

Concrete Things

Words and speech by Lorraine Hansberry
Music written, arranged, mixed & mastered by Seth Mowshowitz
Performed by Fold along with:
Violins – Kieran O’Malley

LYRICS

Intelligence. Reason. Science. Concrete things change the universe… and I hope so

This is one of the glories of man: the inventiveness of the human mind and the human spirit; that whenever life doesn’t seem to give an answer we create them. It gives us strength.

Intelligence. Reason. Science. Transforming the world and I think for the better. The colonial peoples, the African peoples, the Asian peoples are in an insurgent mood.

I really think I’m in the process of living my dream.
In my time there is both joy and beauty and illumination and communion between people to be achieved through the dissection of personality. That’s what I want to do: I want to reach a little closer to the world – which is to say to people – and see if we can share some illuminations together about each other. If I have any deep feelings at all as a writer, I have a suspicion of the universal humanity of all people; and I think it is possible to reach it.

Illuminations

Words and speech by Lorraine Hansberry 
Additional lyrics and vocals by Seth Mowshowitz
Music written, arranged, mixed & mastered by Seth Mowshowitz
Performed by Fold along with the following:
Horn Arrangements – Emma Johnson
Saxophones – Emma Johnson
Simon Dennis – Trumpet
Rosie Nicholl – Trombone
Violins – Kieran O’Malley

LYRICS 

Open your eyes. Open your heart. Something is wrong; we’ve left it too long. But there still is a choice: lift up your voice. Wake up.

Raise your hand. Break it down .Keep your eyes on the prize.

Open your doors; outside there is war. Something must give if we’re all to live. No more.

Raise your hand. Break it down. Keep your eyes on the prize. Lift your head…
[Lorraine Hansberry] Intelligence, reason, science;
…from the sand
[LH] …concrete things change the universe
Keep your eyes on the prize
[LH] …and I hope so.

[LH] Its in the struggle to overcome a problem – whether it ends in failure or what we might call for the lack of a better word success – that people exhibit their possibilities as beings. You know, Hamlet fails; but does he?

Concrete things change the universe… and I hope so.

The Prize

Words and speech by Lorraine Hansberry and Mr Gee
Additional vocals by Seth Mowshowitz
Music written, arranged, mixed & mastered by Seth Mowshowitz
Performed by Fold

LYRICS

[Lorraine Hansberry]
I happen to think that a life that has as its end
something of service and purpose – really doesn’t matter whether you’re making shoes or writing books or plays but has some end product – is a far more substantial life than someone who has gotten led into the way of thinking that tells him that money is the reason why we live.

[Mr Gee]
You got me killing for you, you got me dying for you, telling me a whole heap of lies wishing them to be true. Lost and heartbroken in a make-believe land, living off hope with no clue & no plan, and no funds and no cash and no drum and no pad, and no friends in high places who can bail-out my crash. Even my last straw has a price attached.

[LH] I for one can’t get terribly excited about anyone who wants to commit their lives to just making money as an end in itself. I can’t understand it. I think all values ultimately come out of a materialistic approach to life that there’s no such thing as simply saying to people ‘now be nice’; but you can’t be nice if you’re living miserably.

[MG] Damn that credit score’s gonna break my back, gonna break my bones, the dry valley knows: nobody ever passes go without a fistful of lack, without a fistful of guilt? Without a fistful of need? There’s ivory towers on the hill and ebony graves in the street. Colston knows what I mean; statue thrown in the stream with a bottom-line splash of a cash driven man.

They praise those that hate me. And seek to enslave me, now everybody money crazy in this make-believe land.

[LH] We really don’t have very much in the world at all if we allow any aspect of money values to transcend the requirements that are necessary for human dignity.

Money (ft. Mr Gee)

Words and speech by Lorraine Hansberry
Additional vocals by Seth Mowshowitz
Music written, arranged, mixed & mastered by Seth Mowshowitz
Performed by Fold along with the following:
Horn Arrangements – Emma Johnson
Saxophones – Emma Johnson
Gareth Smith – Trumpet
Rosie Nicholl – Trombone

LYRICS

Many of the things which puzzle other people stand out in more bold relief to us. Some of the values, some of the contradictions, some of the goodies that we most long for in another part of us we have already judged, you know, we have already seen their emptiness. And some of the really marvellous things that other people don’t pay that much attention to, we know how precious they are.

Joy. Beauty. And illumination. And communion…
We know how precious they are.

I suppose I think that the highest gift that man has is art; and I am audacious enough to think of myself as an artist. I want to reach a little closer to the world – which is to say to people – and see if we can share some illuminations together about each other. My dream is largely outside of myself, which is a happy thing to be able to say.

Civil rights, civil liberties; we know that these are not things to be toyed with because we’re still just barely getting our hands on them. We know how precious they are.

My word isn’t this marvellous; the inventiveness of the human mind and the human spirit that whenever life doesn’t seem to give an answer we create them. It gives us strength. I don’t think the time will ever come when we will dismiss the human spirit. There is something more to do with your life than accept it as it is.

In my time there is both joy and beauty and illumination and communion; we know how precious they are. Civil rights, civil liberties; we know that these are not things to be toyed with because we’re still just barely getting our hands on them. We know how precious they are.

How Precious They Are

Words and speech by Lorraine Hansberry
Music written, arranged, mixed & mastered by Seth Mowshowitz
Performed by Fold along with:
Violins – Kieran O’Malley

LYRICS

Most of my dream is outside of myself. I would like very much to live in a world where some of the more monumental problems could at least be solved. I’m thinking of course of peace. That’s part of my dream that we don’t fight; nobody fights.

Nobody Fights

An impassioned case for humanity to place life above profit over lush orchestration & badass breakbeats. The spoken hook that pervades the track is a quote from one of Lorraine Hansberry's favourite dramatists Sean O'Casey. The sample in which the quote is read comes from a Coretta Scott King speech concerning the triple interconnected issues of racism, poverty and war. The male voice throughout the track is that of EF Schumacher whose ideas for human-scale, decentralised and appropriate technologies are as revolutionary and crucial now as they were back in the early 1970s.

Words and speech by Coretta Scott King and EF Schumacher
Additional vocals by Seth Mowshowitz
Music written, arranged, mixed & mastered by Seth Mowshowitz
Performed by Fold along with the following:
Horn Arrangements – Emma Johnson
Saxophones – Emma Johnson
Gareth Smith – Trumpet
Rosie Nicholl – Trombone

LYRICS

[Coretta Scott King]
The bells of the world have tolled long enough for death. Let them now ring for life.

[EF Schumacher]
This is now a very critical time; we are struggling with the problem of poverty and we don’t seem to be making any headway. We are moving into an era of energy shortages, we have the ecological crisis. Technology has become too big, too complex, too expensive and also too violent; so then let’s look in the opposite direction.

[CSK] The bells of the world… (the behaviour of most people…) have tolled long enough for death (…has been conditioned by circumstances)

[EFS] We need a technology for the people, for the spiritual and mental health of humanity, to fight poverty. A technology that works with nature and doesn’t bludgeon her all the time; an altogether more intelligent technology.

Our intelligence – our capacity to create new knowledge – is almost the most precious thing we have and therefore we have to become extremely sensitive to the abuse of this capacity.

[CSK] The bells of the world have tolled long enough for death… (We have the resources…) let them now ring for life (…to eradicate poverty). The bells of the world… (what we lack…) let them now ring for life (…what we lack is the will). The bells of the world…

[EFS] Organise, organise! Co-operate!
[CSK] …have tolled long enough for death.
[EFS] You can always find like-minded people.
[CSK] The bells of the world…
[EFS] The pioneers are already at work.
[CSK] …let them now ring for life.

[EFS] Everyone of us make up their own little mind what do we really think? Which means what do we applaud and what do we detest? We’re very muddled on that. Once we’re clear in our own little minds, then we look around for the pioneers who are already doing the right thing and join them. Join them! It doesn’t cost much. We’ve got to come to something more rational than what we’ve got now and if we don’t do it deliberately it will be forced upon us through the facts of the universe.

The Bells Of The World

Words and speech by Lorraine Hansberry
Music written, arranged, mixed & mastered by Seth Mowshowitz
Performed by Fold along with:
Violins – Kieran O’Malley

LYRICS

[Lorraine Hansberry]
I’m very pleased that those peoples in the world whom I feel closest to – the colonial peoples, the African peoples, the Asian peoples – are in an insurgent mood; and are in the process of transforming the world and I think for the better. I can’t quite understand pessimism at this moment; unless of course one is wedded to things that are dying out – which should die out – like colonialism, like racism and so forth. For me this is one of the most affirmative periods in history.

[Interviewer] Would you care to go on about that?

[LH] Yes… I think it's absolutely necessary that people who are just coming into their own in the world must be as dramatic about it as they possibly can; must embrace all causes, must embrace all methods. We’re talking about oppressed peoples who are that saying that they must assert themselves in the world. We have a great deal to be angry about. It’s hard to know what you should fight for or against but there are things to do. We must make some decisions in this country.

Insurgent Mood

Komla MC vs Fold — Victoria Falls
Debut single — released February 11, 2022
All digital platforms

Komla MC vs Fold is the unlikely combination of two expats in West Yorkshire. Hailing from Accra and New York respectively, Rob (Komla MC) and Seth (of the band Fold) were brought together by having kids at the same Leeds primary school and united in their undying love of hip hop. 

The spirit of this project lies in celebrating an unusual mixture of cultures and the unique, shared perspective of two fish out of different waters. Victoria Falls blends Komla MC's West African flow with the trademark funky weirdness of Fold yielding something fun and even a bit cheeky to help kick off 2022.

Victoria Falls

Buy Download

Komla MC vs Fold — Victoria Falls

Fold — Take It All Back
New Single Out August 4
Saint In the City Records

Take It All Back is about reconciling our stories with the truth. There's a line about the holocaust that claimed my father’s side of the family. We look back with horror at genocide and slavery but really they remain just around the corner. The mindset of those who created the mythology of racism is the same held by today's rulers: that which values profit above all else.

The protections against dehumanisation are being eroded across the globe once again. I believe with all my heart that we must urgently empower ourselves to take control of the narratives that shape society and reverse this trend of dehumanisation.

LYRICS

This struggle may be a moral one
Or it may be
A physical one
But it must be a struggle
Because power concedes nothing
Without a demand
It never did
And it never will

Take it all back
We gotta take it all back
Because they stole it from everyone
And they’re not fooling anyone
Anymore

40 acres
400 years
How can you repay
An ocean of tears?

Human candles
A million gold teeth
Where do we place
The laurel wreath?

Take it all back
We gotta take it all back
Because the bubble is bursting
And the future is burning
To the ground

Native lands
Culture and lives
Stolen and butchered
Yet something survives

In a world of untruth
And polarised debate
Only the ground gives way
As you love so shall you hate

Countless times
Countless times
Countless times
Countless times

Power concedes nothing
Without a demand
It never did
And it never will

Take it all back
If there is no struggle
There is no progress
Take it all back
We gotta take it all back
Because we are victims no longer
And the story is crumbling
Into dust

Take It All Back

Celebrating 10 years of Fold

It’s been a decade since we first got the band together and released Mr President, We’re In Trouble. It’s been one hell of a journey. We looked back at all of the voices on our records and realised that two people have left us in that time: bell hooks (she insisted on lowercase) and Michael Ruppert.

Although they may seem an unlikely pairing, their solution for our troubled world was the same: communities sustain life. This was also our most important learning in all that time.

And so with joy and hope for the future we celebrate the lives and learnings of bell hooks and Mike Ruppert along with our own 10 year voyage. With elements of funk, dancehall and hip hop Sustain also sneakily incorporates bits from previous Fold tracks (for super fans only).

Lyrics

This is my answer to the question
Of why choose love?
Communities sustain life
Communities sustain life

Within a loving community
We sustain ties
By being compassionate
And forgiving
There is no better place
To learn the art of loving
Than in community

Marvellous, marvellous
Community
Marvellous, marvellous
Communities sustain life
Communities sustain life
Not nuclear families
Not the couple
And certainly not
The rugged individualist

Community
Is what will save us
You’re gonna have to do it
In conjunction with your neighbours
And your family
And the people around you
You will fail as a rugged individual
You will survive
As a member of a tribe
Or a family

When we do not choose love
It does not change the fact
That our existence on this planet
Is one of interdependency

What we spend
So much of our time doing
Is violating that interdependency

Communities sustain life
Community
Communities sustain life
Is what will save us
There is no better place
To learn the art of loving
Than in community

Sustain

“A grand, funky number”
— NME Magazine

“So interesting, so original.”
— Dave Rowntree (Blur, XFM)

With a nod to 1970s jazz funk greats the inspirational and humanitarian musings of the enigmatic Bruce Lee are backed by breakbeats, bass, guitar, shakers, 3 piece horn section and a haunting vibraphone melody. All recorded using real live instruments and in order to preserve a natural groove no click track was used during the recording.

On May 22, 2014 Dave Rowntree of Blur made it his record of the week on XFM calling it "so interesting, so original." Both Don Letts and Gideon Coe have been spinning it on BBC 6 Music along with WFUV's Kara Manning in New York and numerous local stations across the UK.

Be Water My Friend will be issued on new Leeds imprint All My Friends as a split 7” with label mates Invisible Hands &amp; their debut single Just.

http://all-my-friends.bandcamp.com/album/be-water-my-friend-just
___________________________________
Written by Fold (PRS / ASCAP)
Produced & mixed by Ed Heaton & Seth Mowshowitz
Mastered by Hippocratic Mastering

Brass arrangements &amp; Tenor Saxophone: Emma Johnson
Trumpet: Ciaran Diston
Trombone: Peter Johnson
www.hornsforhire.co.uk

___________________________________
LYRICS

[Spoken & authored by Bruce Lee]

Empty your mind
Be formless, shapeless
Like water

When you put water into a cup
it becomes the cup
when you put water into a bottle
it becomes the bottle
when you put it in a teapot
it becomes the teapot

Now water can flow
or it can crash

Be water my friend

Running water never goes stale
so you gotta just keep on flowing

Be water my friend

Its very slow and you push it out
but all the time you are keeping the continuity going
bending, stretching everything
I suppose you know you just keep it moving
see the idea is running water never grows stale
so you gotta just keep on flowing

Be water my friend

To express oneself honestly
not lying to oneself
and to express myself honestly
now that my friend is very hard to do
and you have to train
you have to keep your reflexes
so that when you want it its there

When you want to move you are moving
and when you move you're determined to move
not taking one inch - not anything less than that
If I want to punch
I'm gonna do it man

Be water my friend

Here I am you know as a human being
How can I express myself totally and completely?
Its a process of continuing growth

Empty your mind
Be formless
Shapeless

Be water my friend

You what I want to think of myself? As a human being. Because - I mean, I don't want to sound like 'as Confucius say...' but under the sky, under the heavens man, there is but one family. It just so happens man that people are different.

Buy on 7" vinyl

Fold - Be Water My Friend (Single)

Fold return with a vengeance on this no-holds-barred appeal to our humanity. Mixing hip-hop, pop & cinematic influences with the words of late visionaries Mike Ruppert & author Douglas Adams, Fold's new single demands that we take a good, long look at ourselves and confront the devastating consequences of failing to prioritise a sustainable existence.

“We don’t have to save the world; the world is big enough to look after itself. What we need to be concerned about is whether or not the world we live in will be capable of sustaining us in it.”
— Douglas Adams

Who the Hell Are We? follows on the heels of Fold’s October 2022 single Sustain which was playlisted on Spotify’s Fresh Finds Jazz, given spins on BBC 6 Music, Amazing Radio & many other regional stations, and featured by Indie Shuffle among others.

Who the Hell Are We? will be released on brand new and exciting, multi genre UK label SUBTXT. With the core ethos of “dig deep, shout loud”, their aim is to create a platform for artists that want their music to question, interrogate and challenge as well as delight and entertain. In times when opinions are divided, SUBTXT fundamentally sees music as a vehicle for conversation, enlightenment and hope from a diverse range of voices in sonic landscape made from belief.

Who the Hell Are We?

Who The Hell Are We?

Fold address the silencing of dissent on soulful new single The Painful Truth with bell hooks, out Fri 26 May

The phrase “truth is an endangered space” opens Leeds-based Fold’s latest piece, voiced by the late bell hooks and in tribute to her. Using delicately paced soundbites from the visionary author, The Painful Truth reflects a society in which dissenting voices are being deliberately and increasingly stifled. Yet there is hope because, as hooks states, ‘people are really hungry for truth.’ That sense of hope is brought to life by a beautifully cinematic, jazz-funk soundscape with horn arrangements by long-time Fold collaborator Emma Johnson.

“We are continually impressed by bell hooks’ observations and with each new discovery we feel her loss more keenly. Like me, bell hooks was also a New Yorker. She was a professor at CUNY where my father taught for most of his career. This piece uses excerpts from a 2002 interview that triggers memories for me of how it felt to live in post-911 New York / USA. Dissident voices were ruthlessly silenced. Powerful forces took full advantage of the hurt and fear that people were experiencing. What bell hooks observed at that time was the beginning of a trend that has only increased since. We are now very much, as she puts it, ‘in danger of silencing any form of speech that goes against what is perceived to be the status quo.’ This is the perspective that we want to amplify right now.“
— Seth Mowshowitz, Fold

'The Painful Truth' is also released in solidarity with all brave souls speaking truth to power, often at great personal cost. This goes out to the whistleblowers, journalists, academics and each person who is brave enough to deliver the necessary truth in everyday life, even when it is most uncomfortable.

LYRICS

Truth
Is an endangered space
Truth
Is associated with the painful
That should not be spoken

And it becomes hard to get people to value
Speaking freely

Dissident speech
The painful truth
That will to silence is growing
But I see the hope
People are really hungry
For truth
Hungry
For truth

We are in danger
Of silencing
Any form of speech
That goes against
What is perceived to be
The status quo

Truth
Is an endangered space

People are hungry for
Provocative voices
That go to the heart of the matter
Because they want answers
To the things that they are
In crisis about

Dissident speech
The painful truth
Is not valued in our nation
But I see the hope
People are really hungry
For truth
Hungry
For truth

The hope that I feel
Within my own self
And with other people
Is that hunger for truth
And for ways to live our lives
More fully

Dissident speech
The painful truth
There are things we have to say
That will be wounding
But I believe in
The outrageous pursuit of hope
A society that is full of promise
And possibility
People are really hungry
For truth
Hungry
For truth

And its that hunger
That keeps a place
For the dissenting voice
That keeps the place for speaking freely

The Painful Truth

Aided by Mint Press CEO Mnar Adley’s brilliant journalism and the voices of other luminary thinkers, we are calling out the military-industrial complex for enabling forever wars in the name of profit, just as Eisenhower warned about in 1961. Defense contractors routinely lobby governments for more and longer wars on behalf of companies like Lockheed Martin and RTX (especially the US) in order to sell more weapons and generate greater profits, even when it means abetting genocide and other horrific atrocities.

“Perpetual war, endless war, or a forever war, is a lasting state of war with no clear conditions that would lead to its conclusion.

Forever wars can occur in order to keep money flowing into institutions, such as the military-industrial-congressional complex (MICC). Thus, forever wars can serve as domestic political engines, as policy makers promote policies of continuing and expanding wars.”
— Wikipedia

With a fond nod to Black Sabbath‘s War Pigs, production reminiscent of Portishead and a hint of Serge Gainsbourg in the songwriting, the music of Forever War embodies and inhabits its subject matter with the haunting intensity of ancestral memory from a descendant of Holocaust survivors: songwriter Seth Mowshowitz.

Mnar Adley’s narrative takes centre stage in the verses with additional passages from Alice Walker and Lorraine Hansberry, but the Forever War hook is voiced by an expanse of figures including Kurt Vonnegut, Noam Chomsky, Douglas Adams, bell hooks, Mike Ruppert and more. The effect is like a council of elders reaching a solemn conclusion. Angela Davis even makes a cameo doubling the phrase ‘military-industrial complex.’ All of these people have had something crucial to say on the subject of war.

“War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.”
— Smedley D. Butler (retired US Marine Corps Major General), 1935

Lyrics

Forever War

Cease fire
Cease fire

Forever
War
War

The western political establishment
Have exposed their moral depravity

Forever
War

They have weaponised
The words human rights
And democracy

War

They’ve weaponised
These concepts against us
To continue to support
Forever wars

Forever
Forever
Forever
War

Forever
War

War

We are being killed
By people who don’t feel
That is the problem

Forever
Forever
Forever
War

All these wars represent
Are profits for
The military industrial complex
For the executives
At Lockheed Martin
Raytheon and Boeing

Cease fire
Cease fire

War
Forever
Forever
Forever
Forever

Forever
War

So I’m thinking
Of course of peace
That’s part of my dream
That we don’t fight
Nobody fights
We get rid of
All the little bombs
And the big bombs

Forever War

Written and performed by Fold
Recorded at Luck Lane Studios, Huddersfield
Engineered by Matt Worsley
Mixed by Seth Mowshowitz
Mastered by Hippocratic Mastering, Leeds

Mike Ruppert – who took his own life on April 13, 2014 – was a controversial, complicated and sincerely caring individual. A former LAPD officer, investigative journalist and author his work explored and exposed the geopolitical theatre that underpins the fabric of modern civilisation. His central argument – based largely on Hubbert's peak theory – was that because our economic system is predicated on infinite growth in a world of finite resources, the collapse of industrial civilisation is inevitable unless we drastically alter our course. 

Mike's dedication and sincerity were admirable facets of his character. On the other hand according to those closest to him he had an aversion to conflict that often led him to divest from many of his long term achievements. His behaviour and work often reflected a degree of paranoia and for decades he struggled with alcohol addiction and suicidal thoughts. Though criticised by some for being a muckraker or conspiracy theorist it is widely accepted that the majority of Mike's key geopolitical arguments and facts are valid. He was not perfect by any means but for an ordinary person to discover, understand and share what he did is remarkable.

Having already featured on their 2012 B-side That's the Life Experience Mike had corresponded with Fold on numerous occasions. He readily gave his blessing to use the excerpt from his speech concerning the dependency of industrial agriculture upon fossil fuels that became the basis of Oil-Powered Machine. Fold are especially grateful for that blessing now that he's gone.

Buy Now

Fold - Oil-Powered Machine

This is an unreleased (and undelivered) remix that I did about 5 years ago that has been gathering dust. The Shortwave Set are a fantastic band and The Debt Collection from 2005 was a landmark album in my opinion.  

The Shortwave Set - Repeat to Fade (Fold remix)

A Reflection Of Us All

Fold — She
RELEASED NOVEMBER 16, 2015
(Taken from the self-titled debut album)
A collaboration with Brooklyn's 6% poet.

----------------------------------------------------------
"A deft concoction of spoken rhythms and drastic experimentation, Fold's 'She' is simply immense"
— Anthem Review

"The most danceable protest record since There’s A Riot Goin' On."
— Louder Than War

"A real gem, nuanced rhythmically atypical timings and drums drive through the chilled out trumpet and bass-lines, a real soak it in and just go with the flow number."
— Remys Music and Film

----------------------------------------------------------
CREDITS

Written, arranged, performed, produced & mixed by Fold and 6% poet. Fold are Seth Mowshowitz (keys), Ben Walsh (bass), Kane Rattray (drums) and Josh Gardziel (guitar).

Brass arrangements by Emma Johnson. Brass performed by Emma Johnson (tenor & baritone saxophone), Edward Ody (trumpet & flugelhorn) & Tom Smith (trombone).

Recorded, engineered & co-produced by Ed Heaton at Eiger Studios, Leeds. Mastered by Erik Aldrey.

----------------------------------------------------------
LYRICS

See, she wondered in mid-summer how to celebrate his birthday.

She never knew what little boys could do until she had one.
Tons of fun, hours of play, she loved when her little man smiled at her
his certain way.
Well today's his day...
let's celebrate.

Let's celebrate little man's birthday. And even though Daddy ain't around
because he was gunned down by NY pig pound on the same date
let's celebrate little man's birthday.
And may he live longer... stronger... faster.

Old enough to maybe retaliate with his toast
and boast to the neighborhood folk of how he terrorizes blue coats
because see, she wondered in mid-summer how to celebrate his birthday.

See, she wondered in mid-summer how to celebrate his birthday.

She never knew what little boys could do until she had one.
Teenage years amongst his peers
brought black boy pressure none the lesser.
Sessions of aggression rehearsed on Nostrand Ave
BK abrasive, sly and persuasive when he swaggered or staggered
in the morning twilight

See, she wondered in mid-summer how to celebrate his birthday.
See, she wondered what would become of her son, full of discomfort

His situation turned mother against child
illicit occupation equivalent to incarceration
lifestyle led black boy wild
now he's seven years later into manhood

See, she wondered in mid-summer how to celebrate his birthday.

He's the black ethereal grand imperial being from the unseen light
he walks with a bop, swaggers to the right, up the ave.

See, she wondered in mid-summer how to celebrate his birthday.
She never knew what little boys could do until she had one.

26 without a witness he was wandering the city streets.
She never knew what little boys could do
and how they often wanted to compete.
He settled his story of American glory by doing fast things in the wild life
See, she wondered in mid-summer what would happen to him in the night.

And see, she wondered in mid-summer what to do
how to celebrate
how to live
how to be free.

See, she wondered in mid-summer how to celebrate his birthday.

Be Water My Friend

<a href="http://fold.bandcamp.com/album/mr-president-were-in-trouble-single">OUT NOW on limited edition, blood red 7" vinyl (& digital download).</a>

Although the digital download is available on all major download networks if you buy directly from us at <a href="http://fold.bandcamp.com/album/mr-president-were-in-trouble-single">fold.bandcamp.com</a> you cut out the middle man. If you buy the 7" you get the digital download for free.

The 7" is also available at the following record stores in Northern England. We strongly encourage you to support your local record stores as they need our help to continue enriching our cultural experience of music:

<a href="http://jumborecords.co.uk/music-item.asp?product_id=FOLDFM101B">Jumbo Records (Leeds)</a>
<a href="http://crashrecords.co.uk/online/product.php?xProd=12804&xSec=233">Crash Records (Leeds)</a>
<a href="http://www.normanrecords.com/records/137352-fold---mr-president">Norman Records (Leeds)</a>
<a href="http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/products/Fold-MrPresident,WereInTrouble-FoldFM-86925.html">Piccadilly Records (Manchester)</a>

LYRICS

Mr President, we’re in trouble. 

It’s clear that the true problems of our nation are much deeper… deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages – deeper, even, than inflation or recession. 

Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption.
Human identity is no longer defined by what one does but by what one owns.

And we’ve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning.
We’ve learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose. 

Mr President, we’re in trouble. 

What can we do?
First of all, we must face the truth and then we can change our course.
If you lead Mr President, we will follow.

Buy this track

Fold - Mr President, We're in Trouble (ft. Jimmy Carter)

Fold – Something Gives
Released September 12, 2016
CD & digital download

If you like this track and you're on Spotify please give us a follow:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lOmv1v5gfdtBwvRufzjtr

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Having included this track among his favourites of 2016 on the last day of the year Huey Morgan also provided the UK national radio debut on BBC 6 Music followed by a hat trick of spins from Gideon Coe. Kara Manning broadcasted the US radio premiere courtesy of WFUV, New York.

Something Gives is a timely vehicle for the keen eloquence of James Baldwin whose voice, along with that of the wonderful Alice Walker, is the basis of the track.

We've been feeling urgently compelled to respond somehow to the heavy sociopolitical escalations of late on both sides of the pond. This release is our way of bridging the distances & expressing universal solidarity as human beings. Musically the tune bears similarities to A Tribe Called Quest's jazzy hip hop vibes and Arthur Verocai's Brazilian way of joy and despair all at once.

All music written, arranged, performed, engineered, produced & mixed by Seth Mowshowitz apart from tenor saxophone arranged and performed by Emma Johnson.
http://www.johnsonmusic.co.uk/

Mastered by Erik Aldrey
http://www.erikaldrey.com/

LYRICS
----------
[James Baldwin]

[REFRAIN]
I'm terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart, which is happening in my country.

These people have deluded themselves for so long they really don't think I'm human. I base this on their conduct, not on what they say, and this means that they have become in themselves moral monsters.

It doesn't matter any longer what you do to me: you can put me in jail, you can kill me. By the time I was 17 you'd done everything that you could do to me. The problem now is: how you gonna save yourselves?

How you gonna save yourselves?

[REFRAIN]
I'm terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart, which is happening in my country.

There are days, one of them, when you wonder what your role is in this country and what your future is in it. How precisely are you going to reconcile yourself to your situation here, and how you're going to communicate that you are here?

The country has arrived at a place where it can no longer contain revolt. Human beings are not by nature non-violent, you know? You can only survive so many beatings, so much humiliation, so much despair, so many broken promises before something gives.

Before something gives.

[REFRAIN]
I'm terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart…

[Alice Walker]
We are being killed by people who don't feel – if we get down to that, that is the problem.

[James Baldwin]
I'm terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart…

[Alice Walker]
If you don't feel it you kill it because you think it doesn't feel either…

[REFRAIN]
I'm terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart, which is happening in my country.

[Alice Walker]
So away with that, we don't want that.

[James Baldwin]
I'm aware that something terrible has happened, which is very hard to describe.

Something Gives

Buy on iTunes

Kurt Vonnegut in 1973 and Mary O’Hara in 1957 feature on this track that reflects on coping with death and grief through the use of excerpts from the former’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five narrated by the author himself. The excerpts are worked into a song based on Mary O’Hara’s version of an old Irish song called Eileen Aroon. The hook of the song is actually Kurt Vonnegut himself which may well be the only known recording of him singing. He sings a couple of lines from an old song cited in Slaughterhouse-Five called That Old Gang of Mine.

Lyrics

So long forever, old fellas and gals
So long forever, old sweethearts and pals
God bless ‘em

Robert Kennedy, whose summer home is 8 miles from the home I live in all year round, was shot 2 nights ago.
He died last night. So it goes.
Martin Luther King was shot a month ago. He died too. So it goes.

So long forever, old fellas and gals
So long forever, old sweethearts and pals
God bless ‘em

And every day my government gives me a count of corpses created by military science in Vietnam. So it goes.
My father died many years ago now, of natural causes.
He was a sweet man. He was a gun nut too.
He left me his guns. They rust.

So long forever, old fellas and gals
So long forever, old sweethearts and pals
God bless ‘em

So it goes.

Everything is alright and everybody has to do exactly what he does.

Fold - So It Goes (ft. Kurt Vonnegut)

This track features a controversial speech given by Dr Martin Luther King Jr in 1967 in protest of the Vietnam war. He had already received the Nobel Peace Prize and one year later to the day he was murdered. Many felt that as a civil rights leader he had no place speaking out against the war but he was adamant with good reason that ‘a time comes when silence is betrayal.’ His understanding of global politics and his knowledge of history as evidenced in the case he makes throughout this speech were extraordinary.

The narrative extracted from this speech is however more generally a calling to speak out against injustice & tyranny perpetrated against those who otherwise have no way of defending themselves and no forum in which to voice their victimisation. These words resonate with grave potency in today’s world just as they did in those days. They could apply just as easily to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as they did to the war in Vietnam.

Tom Robinson of BBC 6 Music chose this track for the BBC Introducing Mixtape and also aired it on his show.

LYRICS

I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. 

A time comes when silence is betrayal. The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. 

We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation, for those that call us enemy. For no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers. 

We are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us. We must be prepared to match actions with words by seeking out every creative method of protest possible. 

Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.

Fold - We Must Speak (ft. Dr Martin Luther King Jr)

Fold - Stronger Than the Evils (feat. Motormouf)
New single out February 22
All digital platforms

NEW ALBUM out Record Store Day 2019 (April 13)

Stronger Than the Evils

Buy now

Stronger Than The Evils

From the album We're the Ones, released April 13, 2019
On limited edition clear orange vinyl & CD
Available at https://fold.bandcamp.com/album/were-the-ones

Also available on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/4Vybd9w9HxlrZyBn8DBeaW?si=VlHSF13CT0mmepw20SSL0g

Having been played 3 times by Gideon Coe on BBC 6 Music and made an editor's pick at Indie Shuffle, Teacher seems to be many people's top track from the album. There is a strong Brazilian jazz & psychedelic influence along with a Stereolab-esque indie sensibility and even a bit of Isaac Hayes and David Axelrod in the orchestration. It is a thoroughly organic sound with full horn section, string section, drums, bass and guitar all done live.

The speech is edited from a rather tender talk given to students by James Baldwin at a predominantly Black high school in Oakland, California 1963. On the one hand he highlights the function, importance and value of an education and finding self-worth in a white society. On the other hand there is a universal message about education being a two way street – that as students we must ask questions and as teachers we ought to keep our minds open to learning from those we teach.

We're the Ones

Teacher

CREDITS

Written, arranged, performed, engineered, produced, mixed & mastered by Fold.

Speech – excerpt from James Hilton's Lost Horizon adapted for radio in 1950. The character narrating is called Father Perrault.

LYRICS

[Father Perrault] 

I wanted to warn you of the storm that is coming to the world. There will be no safety by arms, no help from authority, no answer in science. It will rage until every flower of culture is trampled and all human beings are levelled in a vast chaos. Such was my vision when Napoleon was still a name unknown. I see it now, more clearly with each hour. 

I wanted to warn you of the storm that is coming to the world. 
I wanted to warn you of the storm that is coming to the world. 

And when that time comes to destroy all that is precious in the world, when the strong have devoured each other, then will the Christian ethic at last be fulfilled and the meek shall inherit the earth. 

I wanted to warn you of the storm that is coming to the world. 

It is my hope that the airman with his load of bombs will pass us by. And when the new world stirs among the ruins; hopefully seeking its lost, legendary treasure; it will be here my son – hidden behind the mountains in the valley of the blue moon preserved by a miracle for a new renaissance. 

I wanted to warn you 
I wanted to warn you of the storm that is coming to the world 
I wanted to warn you 
I wanted to warn you of the storm that is coming to the world 

[Hugh Conway] 

You predict a dark age? 

[Father Perrault] 

Yes. And when that time comes to destroy all that is precious in the world, when the strong have devoured each other, then will the Christian ethic at last be fulfilled and the meek shall inherit the earth.

The Storm

Concrete Things pays tribute to a great visionary author & activist named Lorraine Hansberry; her voice & ideas are at the core of the track. Released in defiance of these dark times Concrete Things highlights the importance of using our cognitive gifts to move forward – to steer ourselves towards the proverbial light.

The world radio premiere of Concrete Things was broadcasted by Huey Morgan on BBC 6 Music, March 21, 2020 (who made it Beat of the Week). Gideon Coe has also played it a few times on BBC 6 Music. Featured on both Indie Shuffle and Amazing Radio too.

“The perfect tonic for a discordant mind.”
— Shell Zenner (BBC Leeds, Amazing Radio)

Words and speech by Lorraine Hansberry
Written, arranged, mixed & mastered by Seth Mowshowitz
Performed by Fold along with the following:
Horn Arrangements – Emma Johnson
Saxophones – Emma Johnson
Simon Dennis - Trumpet
Rosie Nicholl - Trombone
Violins – Kieran O’Malley

Played & praised by Lauren Laverne on BBC 6 Music who called it a "stunning track"
Chosen by Don Letts on BBC 6 Music for his top picks of 2013 having played it several times.
Played by Jon Kennedy on Xfm's X-Posure.

Single of the week on Salford City Radio
Single of the week on The First 45 (Sine FM Doncaster)
Playlisted by Love Leeds Radio and ALL FM Manchester

Released October 28 2013

(Text & vocals by @mr-gee-poet)

Save the promise of protection
Save the connections
Save the procession
Save the confessions

Save the pressure of public perception
Save the treasure that comes from collection
Save winter’s discontentment, a cold summer’s resentment
Save voter apathy, a crap football team and short spans of attention
Save mishandled scandals, undamaged faith in professionals
Save the alchemist that balances science and intervention

Save industrial strikes
Save the extra daylight
Save the rainy days, last night a DJ saved my life
Pray that unknown Tinas aren’t saved by well known Ikes
Save the good intentions that pave the days of our lives

Save electricity
Save the bumblebee
Save the humble ministry from tumbling amongst the weeds
Save the police deputies and sheriffs that messed with Bob Marley
Save the deterrent inherent in all the world’s armies
Save us from the next flood, earthquake or tsunami
Save the invite
Save the party

Save us from belief
Save us from the grief
Save us from the separation of the chaff from the wheat
Save the daily bread, the daily rice, the daily peas
Save the missing pieces to make the jigsaw complete

So before an offer can be made of salvation
Let’s save ourselves and then work on the nation.

Buy on Bandcamp

Salvation (ft. Mr Gee)

By incorporating a wide range of voices including MCs, poets, historical speakers and singers into their music, Fold aim to amplify humanitarian perspectives and critical reflections on today’s world. Through doing so they also hope to help keep spaces open for speaking freely and truthfully. Their sound is similarly wide-ranging, from jazz-funk through Brazilian, psyche, hip-hop and downtempo.

Starting in 2012 they’ve managed to cultivate a decent reputation in the underground British music scene. Their music is played on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, Radio X, Amazing Radio and stations across the world. Indie Shuffle are big fans and they’ve had features in The Times, The Guardian and The NME. They’ve played shows all over the UK including a live session for Lauren Laverne on BBC 6 Music.

Fold believe that the answers to a sustainable future lie in prioritising the value of life over profits in all decisions. They believe that the success of our species has not been driven by ‘survival of the fittest’ but instead by ‘survival of the most cooperative.’ Our ability to act cooperatively to our mutual benefit, facilitated by our loving natures, is the true foundation of society. These beliefs, are what they bring to every record and every performance.

Fold

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