A Life's Work: MJ Cole On His Beautiful New Album 'Madrugada'
UKG legend looks back on his roots to chart a forward path...
*MJ Cole* has been a figurehead in dance music spanning the last 20 years, and many still associate him with his pivotal early work in the garage scene.
The artist, however, served a curveball when, just two weeks ago he released his first album in 17 years, entitled ‘Madrugada’. A body of work, consisting of beautifully crafted, classical music. Calming in its design, it was a far stretch from what we’re used to hearing. When I spoke to Cole, I had many questions, I was so intrigued how an artist could turn his whole musical output, on its head. By the end of our conversation, everything seemed to make sense.
The seeds of ‘Madrugada’ were laid throughout Cole’s career. At just five years old, he started to play the piano, and as a teenager he went on to attend the Royal College of Music where he was classically trained in the instrument. “Much of my training there was in classical music, I also studied jazz for some time. I was taught how to play the piano and the oboe, as well as partaking in Orchestras. It was also at that school, where I was first introduced to bigger studios. I always knew my career would be in music.”
- - -
- - -
A job with SOUR (Sound of the Underground Recordings) introduced him to the sound of UK garage. “I was a hardcore drum ‘n’ bass / jungle head back then. It was a small outfit, so I began engineering and play keys for people, very quickly. The label had a link up with a radio station called London Underground. DJ’s would come in with these garage records and try to make new records from them. I started to do the same, but my result was skewed, as I came from a completely different place to this music. I think throughout my career, I’ve always approached the genre, whether it be garage or pop, with inspiration from somewhere else, which has helped my music stand out.” It was this UKG sound that made him known as a prominent producer.
The artist’s stock has risen too such an extent, requests for collaborations came from some of the biggest names across the industry, from AJ Tracey to Stormzy. I wondered what he had learnt from working with artists with such a huge audience. “I’ve always worked with MC’s, from Wiley to Dizzee Rascal. It wasn’t really anything different. The Stormzy record was different, the sessions with Jimmy Napes were special – he’s such a good writer. On the day we did it, it felt like it would be a special record. I’m not the hyped guy in the studio, but I even felt this was going to go far.”
Cole’s last album - ‘Cut To The Chase’ was released 17 years ago. In that time, the pace in which we consume music has exploded, largely due to the ease of streaming. Cole kept up with demand, through numerous collaborations, and hundreds of singles, but a full body of work was always missing. “In dance music, you’re making records and everything’s quite immediate right now. Essentially, I just got impatient making records and didn’t want to disappear for a year and have no releases. I just couldn’t keep them back, so we ended up doing EP’s and singles. I just couldn’t wait long enough to have the tracks for an album, without releasing anything.”
- - -
- - -
‘Madrugada’ takes inspiration from the Spanish term - the time between midnight and dawn. Its complex instrumentation reflects the many ways people choose to spend those hours. The core sound behind the 12 tracks on the album was made on Cole’s upright Yamaha piano. Days in the recording studio with a 14-piece orchestra and with the help of violinist and string arranger Tobie Tripp, layers of audio were created, giving the artist the opportunity to manipulate sounds throughout, and take those listening on a journey.
“This album came around in such a unique way. I went in to meet the guys at Decca records about something totally different, and they just asked me what I wanted to do. I told them I wanted to make an album with piano and strings on it, and they said ‘Okay, go and do that’. It all happened so quickly, I walked out of that meeting with an album deal, so I never really had the chance to overthink this. Piano improvisations have always been a part of my life, my phone is full of voice notes of melodies I’ve made, so I went back to those for inspiration.”
“I looked to film soundtracks as well, lots of Hans Zimmer stuff. Jonny Greenwood, the Phantom Thread soundtrack, even going back to Erik Satie’s music, all this was at the core of this album. The album came together very fast. It started in February last year and was written by April. For the 14-piece strings, I had Tobie Tripp arrange the strings for that, by May that was complete.”
- - -
- - -
This album is Cole's most complete body of work to date, not only sonically but artistically as well. A remix package was enlisted to precede the albums release, drawing on the likes of Shanti Celeste and Max Cooper to give the album a Dancy feel. “It was an idea we had to introduce the sounds of the album to people, without hitting them in the face with it. I thought it would be fun to have some dance remixes to lay the seeds of the album before it dropped.”
‘Madrugada’ is also accompanied by a 16-minute documentary, directed by Henry Dean. Having worked in the dance scene for so long, Cole is more aware than most about what goes on in those early morning hours. The documentary follows a number of those who are busiest during those hours – from a mother, to a shepherd.
“We all sat down and thought it would be really great to show a handful of characters, in parallel, though that period of the night, to show how differently people spend those hours. It seemed like a nice, artistic way of exploring that time of the day and then use the music to compliment that. It was great as I got the opportunity to score the video, using segments of the album and other pieces, which was always something I’d wanted to do.”
The video is beautifully personal, full of emotion and it personally touched me when I watched it. It was the perfect way to sign off the complete ‘Madrugada’ package.”
- - -
- - -
It’s hard to imagine a more perfect piece of listen too during these crazy times we’re living in, it feels like a gift from Cole, to get us through this. “The timing wasn’t intentional, but I like to think in a spiritual way, that the universe combined two little timelines, and in a very small way it feels like the perfect time to be consumed. This album came about when I had a lot of things going on in my personal life. There is a lot of emotion involved, for a long time it was my secret escape. Now, I hope it helps with the emotions people are feeling in the current situation.”
Before Coronavirus sent the world into meltdown, Cole was set to debut his live show at EartH at the end of the month, luckily, they’ve managed to set a future date. “We’ve managed to move it to October, there will likely be a few more shows after, but its hard to say now. The live show would consist of me at the upright piano, another guy at the electronics, looking after the keyboard sounds. Then as many string players as I can afford! A minimum of a string quartet, the dream scenario would be 15 people on strings, and with a guy on double bass. But, obviously a lot of that comes down to budget.”
With ‘Madrugada’ being such a shift in Cole’s sonic output, you’d be forgiven for wondering, is this the future for the artist? “This certainly isn’t a junction in the road. I come from classical, so it will always be part of my DNA, this was just such a great opportunity. I want to write another album like this, but I also want to do a more traditional MJ Cole one. I want to film scores; I don’t see why I can’t do all these things. A remix I did for Gracey’s ‘Gone’ came out last week, I’ve just done a Disclosure remix, I’ve got half an album of Garage sounding productions ready to go. Dance music will always be something that I love, but then I can go over to the piano and do something else. This is just me, growing as a musician.”
When our conversation ended, Cole’s growth as a musician seemed so natural. Once the opportunity came around to make the album, it seemed as though his career had gone full circle. As he says himself, “When you grow up in classical music, and you’re classically trained, it’s so intense and takes up so much of your life, it just never goes away. I really think this album was gestating my whole life.” I’m sure when you have an itch for so long, there comes a time when you have to scratch it, and what an outcome.
- - -
Plus, watch the video for MJ Cole's 'Reimagination' now...
- - -
'MJ Cole presents Madrugada' is out now.
Words: *Jake Wright*
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
Buy Clash Magazine