They were coming back to life. They were free and getting freer. The heart-breaking, soul-building new novel about the transformative power of love, from the Sunday Times-bestselling KAE TEMPESTRothko Taylor has washed up with the tide, back in their hometown, Edgecliff.

Fifteen years since they left it behind. The past is accelerating towards them: the skateboard kids on the high street that remind them of their teenage years, the splintered benches looking out to sea, where their mum Meg clutched her cans. The nice bit of town, where their dad Ezra tried and failed to build a happy home.

And Dionne's block. Beautiful, extraordinary Dionne, the only person who had ever looked at them and seen what was there. Back then, overwhelmed and full of fear, they sank beneath the surface into chaos.

But they made it out alive. And this time, Rothko is determined that things will be different. His first novel in a decade, Having Spent Life Seeking is about family and forgiveness; redemption and atonement; desire and abandon; selfhood and community.

The things we seek when we are hiding, and what finds us, if we can let ourselves be seen.

Mercury and BRIT nominated Kae Tempest’s fifth studio album ‘Self Titled’ featuring Neil Tennant, Tawiah, Connie Constance and Young Fathers and co-produced by Fraser T Smith and Tempest. Tempest has an impressive list of prizes under his belt. His book Brand New Ancients made him the first person under 40 to receive the Ted Hughes Award in 2013. Kae also won the Ivor Novello Award for ‘Best Contemporary Song’ in 2024, following two previous Ivor Novello nominations in 2020 and a BRIT Award nomination in 2018. Kae has been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize twice.

The album’s first single, ‘Statue In The Square,’ was released in March. Tempest’s fast flow delivers a raw, rhythmic track. The accompanying video was filmed in Deptford, London, and features key community voices, including Princess Julia, Joelle Taylor, Sweatmother, Debbie Smith, and Dr Ronx. The collaborations on Self Titled don’t stop there. For his fifth offering, Tempest has ensured a stellar line-up of features. Guest appearances include Neil Tennant, Young Fathers, Connie Constance, and Tawiah.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Tempest's brand new LP swims in the sort of gritty, downbeat hip-hop poetry we all loved on 2016's brilliant 'Let Them Eat Chaos', but this time around there's a grittier, industrial aesthetic underpinning proceedings. There are moments of sublime melodicism, much like there are segments of chaotic noise, but it's the perfect balance that sets Kae apart from the rest and keeps us coming back for more. A superb new outing from one of the UK's hottest poets.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Stand On The Line
2. Statue In The Square
3. Know Yourself
4. Sunshine On Catford
5. Bless The Bold Future
6. Everything All Together
7. Prayers To Whisper
8. Diagnoses
9. Hyperdistillation
10. Forever
11. Breathe
12. Till Morning

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 22ND ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.



IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 24TH).



Kae Tempest kicks off 2023 with a 4 track EP release entitled ‘Nice Idea’, in support of Record Store Day. Produced by Dan Carey, the EP tracks were written and recorded over a five-day period, during a brief gap in Kae’s extensive 2022 touring schedule. The title track, ‘Nice Idea’ is released today along with a video shot in their native South East London and made by their childhood friend Kwake Bass. Kae says of the track “This is a song about wanting to stay in bed all day with the person you're in love with. Imagine you could just shut the whole world out and enjoy each other. Nice idea “ 2023 looks set to be another big year for Kae Tempest, with the release of their new poetry collection “Divisible by Itself and One”, which will be published by Picador on April 27th plus a sold out Australian tour, which kicks off in February and includes an appearance at Sydney Opera House. With four studio albums, a novel, their first work of non-fiction (‘On Connection’), three plays and five collections of poetry to their name, Kae Tempest has firmly established themselves as one of the most unique, thought-provoking and critically acclaimed voices of their generation.

TRACK LISTING

1. Love Harder
2. Thinking Clearly
3. Nice Idea
4. Split The Atom

The Line Is A Curve is about letting go. The core of the record is that the pressures we face do not always have to be heavy burdens, but can be reframed; the more pressure a person is under, the greater the possibility for release.

The album plays like a chronicle of pressures - the mind-numbing pursuit of a comfortable life, the eternal striving for more, the pressures of the city, the country, the times. The pressures of maintaining relationships, of battling illness, addiction, poor mental health, the vacuous life of our online selves. As we move through these chronicles though, the mood brightens. The musicality becomes more expansive as the lyrical horizon broadens and we glimpse coastlines, high streets, scrap yards, train stations in the rain; the entire album begins to let go. We encounter the contributions of artists who I love and admire, guest vocalists and instrumentalists, and so we defeat the sense of isolation felt in the opening track with a sense of deeply connected community. More Pressure, the penultimate song, is the essence of the whole album and the epiphany that leads to Grace, which is a prayer, a surrendering; ‘Please move me, please move through me, please unscrew me, please loosen me up.’ But once we get to the end of Grace, and the album, we loop back to the start – to ‘Kiss off the day with a mute mouth. Pass the commute like I can die faster than you.’ Because no matter how much a person grapples with, realises, deeply understands, about life and their place in it, we still wake up in the morning back to square one. Life isn’t solved the minute you figure something out about it. It’s a daily operation to increase your resilience, cultivate a deeper acceptance, let go of what’s chasing you and lean in to the pressures. It’s cyclical, as I believe all things are. And instead of trying to fight the cycles, this album asks us to surrender to them. To let go.

These general themes, of acceptance, resilience, surrender are also about where I’m at in my personal life, in my journey towards a greater acceptance of myself as an artist and as a human being. Being more honest with the world and my community about who I am and letting go of some heavy heavy shame, which is a glorious thing.

This album has a beautiful heart, there is so much love running through it and I can’t wait for people to experience it.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: This newest outing from Kae Tempest absolutely shines with everything that made their 2019 LP 'Books Of Traps And Lessons' such a standout hit. It's fiery, wonderfully written and superbly modern, imbued with rippling arps and grooving synths that weren't really at the forefront of the decidedly less upbeat aforementioned offering. It's a wonderful turn in the road for this eminently talented musician.

TRACK LISTING

1. Priority Boredom
2. I Saw Light (feat. Grian Chatten)
3. Nothing To Prove
4. No Prizes (feat. Lianne La Havas)
5. Salt Coast
6. Don't You Ever
7. These Are The Days
8. Smoking (feat. Confucius MC)
9. Water In The Rain (feat. Assia)
10. Move
11. More Pressure (feat. Kevin Abstract)
12. Grace