SG Lewis announces his debut record 'times', shares Feed The Fire feat. Lucky Daye

Header image by Harvey Pearson.

SG Lewis' journey to this point has been a long-winding one. He's one of the few artists from the 'Soundcloud boom' of bedroom producers to have a continued imprint on dance music all these years later, and everything he's put out since those early days of the mid-2010s has proved his place worthy. He's a multi-talented, multi-dimensional musician who thrives in every format, whether that be through instrumentals that place his production into the forefront, through to the remixes which litter his discography back to its earliest days, and even his role as a keen guest-producer, writing and producing for acts including Dua Lipa, G-Eazy, Victoria Monet and Khalid.

Starting in 2018, a trilogy of conceptual EPs showcased this versatility through a storyline of a night out: Dusk (co-starring J Warner and featuring his two-part Sunsets singles) depicting the beginning of the night, Dark replicating the euphoric freedom of club culture with AlunaGeorge and T.E.E.D., and Dawn being the residual movements of the early-morning, departing itself from the strobe-lit electronica of Dark in favour of more subtle approaches of dance-pop featuring Ruel and Clairo.

It was a release that brought together SG Lewis' many forms into a distinct storyline through a means that isn't often shown through dance music, and while it may have seemed peak inventiveness at the time, his output since has proved that experimentation underpins much of SG Lewis' drive, and in turn, much of what underpins his glow-up from a bedroom favourite to a heavyweight behind some of the year's biggest dance records. Chemicals, for example, was a stand-out moment that featured his own vocal for the first time, while Impact brought together two musicians who have defined their own sub-sections of dance music: Robyn in cathartic dance-pop, and Channel Tres is swaggerous, funk-driven hip-hop.

Now, we're learning that it's only the beginning. As it turns out, the two singles prelude the release of SG Lewis' long-awaited debut record times, scheduled for release on February 19, 2021. It's an album that revolves around another core concept, emphasising the times we've been missing out on throughout the last twelve months and the dancefloor euphoria - from its modern-day interpretations to its roots as a form of escapism for underprivileged societies in the 1970s - that's been non-existent for much of the world of late.

"times is an ode to the present moment," he elaborates. "2020 has shown us that the experiences we took for granted in the past, are never promised tomorrow, and that the opportunity to dance together may not always be there again. After reading about 70’s New York and the birth of disco, I became infatuated with the euphoria and escapism that the music from that period created, and the safe spaces the clubs at the time provided for people to express themselves. I aimed to create a world musically that captured those same feelings, and to imagine the music that would be playing in those rooms if they were to exist today."

We also get another taste of SG Lewis' freeing euphoria in the form of Feed The Fire, the album's third taste and his first collaboration with American hot-shot Lucky Daye, whose R&B trance fits perfectly alongside the grooves of SG Lewis' production, which proves as infectious as it's ever been. It's a match made in heaven; the two favourites finding the perfect middle-point that showcases their respective charms but in a way that encourages both to step beyond the expected, embracing the collision point between comforting R&B and freeing funk grooves.

"Feed The Fire is the kind of song I’ve wanted to make for a long time and one of my favourites on the album," SG says. "Lucky’s album Painted is in constant rotation for me and I’d always wanted to hear what he would sound like on something club tempo - the result is better than I ever could have hoped for. So much of this album was inspired by my love of Jamiroquai, so to have Matt Johnson & Simon Hale involved on this song is very surreal."

Lucky Daye's addition to the album reveals him as another collaborator joining the times story, alongside Robyn, Channel Tres and more to be announced. In the meantime, you can pre-order the record here, and take a dive into the new single below: 

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