The Brkn Record - The Architecture Of Oppression Part 1

‘On The Daily’ is the electrifying first single taken from The Brkn Record’s forthcoming debut album, ‘The Architecture of Oppression Part 1’. A ground-breaking concept album from Jake Ferguson of The Heliocentrics. It is a critical journey through the eyes of black Britons, blending powerful and sobering narratives with psychedelic and soulful symphonies.

‘On The Daily’ is a future anthem that has a timeless quality to it. With flawless production that is relevant and urgent today, but would also feel at home had it emerged from the Cadet Records stable at their 60s and 70s peak. It displays the strength and intimacy of a modern-day Odetta jamming with Charles Stepney. 

A child of Nigerian, West African parents, Ugochi Nwaogwugwu, narrates and delivers the song with the strength and ethereal beautify of an avenging angel. Ugochi describes this song as an "attempt to express the degree of power, resilience and focus it takes to be black and in this world. So many forces trying to take our peace of heart and mind. Though the battle rages on, those on the frontline win when we keep our poise and expose the perpetrators of racism and white terrorism."

This song is a clarion call driving awareness to the fact that these things are happening to black people everyday, and you have to be strong to survive this - on the daily.

The Brkn Record

The Brkn Record - On The Daily (Feat Ugochi Nwaogwugwu)

‘Lifeline’ is the stunning second single taken from The Brkn Record’s forthcoming debut album, ‘The Architecture of Oppression Part 1’. A ground-breaking concept album from Jake Ferguson of The Heliocentrics. It is a critical journey through the eyes of Black Britons, blending powerful and sobering narratives with psychedelic and soulful symphonies.

Fronted by MOBO award-winning Brownswood Recordings artist Zara McFarlane, ‘Lifeline’ is a paean to strength, solidarity and hope atop a blazing psychedelic storm with sonic echoes of the Velvet Underground’s ‘Venus In Furs’.” The song was born during a period when Jake had been listening to Josh White and Johnny Shines and imagined himself sitting alone on a porch somewhere pondering his future. He describes what happened next, “inspired by this scene, I picked up my Thai guitar, which is a four string instrument with a very bluesy, cranky sound, and then the main hook line came to me. I kept playing it over and over again and thought about recording it on its own without other instruments. After a while I started to lay down the first main line, then layered it up a few times to make it sound more lush. Sitting next to the Thai guitar was my electric tanpura which seemed to be calling me to use it which I promptly did to get that drone sound. Next thing I know and I am immersing myself, as usual, in the work of Richard Evans, one of my favourite arrangers of all time and, the man behind Cadet's Soulful Strings which is where I got the inspiration to have strings follow the Thai guitar hook.”

The drums were added to the track by Jake’s long-time collaborator from The Heliocentrics, Malcolm Catto. This loose breakbeat drumming, haunting strings and psychedelic drone culminated in something akin to a tripped-out version of Rotary Connection’s ‘Memory Band’. Jake knew he would need a singer who could cut through, and Zara McFarlane was his first choice. "The clarity and precision of Zara's vocals offered a real juxtaposition to the 'roughness' of the bluesy drone. Also, Zara dug deep to give her own perspective on racism that I hadn't heard before.”

Zara’s serene voice has a magnetic pull that draws everything together on the track. The lyrical content is equally powerful, which she summarises as "an observation of how decisions, made by ourselves and others, affect our circumstances and consequences and thus the pulse of our lives from that moment on.”

The Brkn Record - Lifeline (feat. Zara McFarlane)

‘His Mother’s Eyes’ is a future anthem and the mesmerising third single taken from The Brkn Record’s forthcoming debut album, ‘The Architecture of Oppression Part 1’. A ground-breaking concept album from Jake Ferguson of The Heliocentrics. It is a critical journey through the eyes of Black Britons, blending powerful and sobering narratives with psychedelic and soulful symphonies.

Exquisitely sung by The Voice winner and political activist Jermain Jackman, ‘His Mother’s Eyes’ communicates the pain of loss, the trauma of systemic oppression, and the hope for an end to struggle. 

Jermain described the writing process “I thought about Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ and the opening line "Mother, Mother, there’s too many of you crying”. I asked myself, what was the context in which Marvin wrote that, and how does that relate to today? I felt that song meant so much now, it is still so important and factually correct. I decided to flip it on its head and use that as an inspiration. The first line of ‘His Mother’s Eyes’ is “how do you stop the tears from falling from his Mother’s eyes” - we are talking about George Floyd’s family, but also the families of those who have been killed because of racism, not just police brutality, but negligence, institutional racism, where Black women are five times more likely to lose their child or die themselves during childbirth. It was direct inspiration from Marvin, where at the point he wrote the song he was trying to understand what was going on so we can come together. ‘His Mother’s Eyes’ is a journey from that song to this one that says now we know what is going on how do we stop it? At what point do we stop and listen, and how do we now build to a better future? It felt like a part two where I was writing to ‘What’s Going On’.” 

Jackman’s crystalline voice is matched to an emotionally rich backing reminiscent of Charles Stepney’s timeless Cadet productions. It allows Jermain’s vocal to soar, culminating in an emotionally powerful song that will surely be heralded as an anthem of its time.

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The Brkn Record - His Mother’s Eyes (feat Jermain Jackman)

’Assimilation’ is the fourth, and final, single taken from The Brkn Record’s forthcoming debut album, ‘The Architecture of Oppression Part 1’. A groundbreaking concept album from Jake Ferguson of The Heliocentrics. It is a critical journey through the eyes of Black Britons, blending powerful and sobering narratives with psychedelic and soulful symphonies.

It is a track that has an overwhelming potency and power. A visceral tour de force that stops you in your tracks. The music has a Wagnerian manner to it, culminating in a dramatic and emotional intensity, masterfully matched by the evocative lyrics and their delivery. Over a pulsing, ominous beat, spoken word artist, singer and performance poet Dylema breaks down the psychological and social violations entrenched by the pressure placed on Black and Brown people to ‘assimilate’ to so-called English culture. 

Born and raised in Nigeria, Dylema moved to England in 2000 and it is this lived experience that is expressed in the song’s lyrics, "When I came to this country, I had such a strong accent that it was really difficult to blend in. Before I opened my mouth, you had the Black thing, and when I opened my mouth you had the African thing. People were taken aback by that, and so I found myself assimilating and remembering my experience of that assimilation. I felt in order to survive in England I would have to learn how to speak like an English person. Even though I have this accent right now, it is completely fake. It never left me to have an African accent, so amongst my friends and people close to me, I slip back without even noticing. The level of skill I had to have to assimilate into England required so much of me. Even if you’re not born and raised in Africa, there are so many things that Black British people have to do to assimilate without even noticing it. I still feel like I haven’t completely assimilated and I’m ok with that now. That is what inspired me to write Assimilation. I felt someone needed to put a voice to what we actually do to ourselves to be respected or accepted in Britain.”

The Brkn Record - Assimilation (feat. Dylema)

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The Brkn Record - The Architecture Of Oppression Part 1

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