After weeks of anticipation, Stephen James Smith’s début album ‘See No Evil’ is finally out in the world for you to stream and download at your leisure. And as I type this (on 1 April), it’s another #BandcampFriday, which means that even more of the sales income goes straight to the artist.
The album was described as, “fearlessly refreshing” by Hotpress and was given 4/5 by Business Post. We think it’s an absolute beauty and urge you to check it out as soon as you can. It’s available in all of the usual places, but as always, our Bandcamp page is best.
You can catch Stephen on the road soon, with Ireland & UK tour dates on sale here. Huge thanks to everybody that’s already bought and shared the album. Please continue to spread the love! All the best and enjoy…
In the lead-up to the album release on 1 April, Stephen James Smith has released the single ‘I’ve had lovers’, which you can now buy and stream in all of the usual places. It’s a stunning track that’s already amassed thousands of plays, so get on it ASAP if you’ve yet to do so!
This month’s episode of Roaring 20s Radio was an International Women’s Day special! We were joined in the Soho Radio studio by poets Violet Malice and The Repeat Beat Poet. You should be able to find it wherever you usually listen to your podcasts, but if not, it’s on our Anchor.fm site here. Enjoy…
Friday’s launch of ‘Tubthumping’ couldn’t have gone better. We had a healthy crowd from far and wide – with audience members travelling from as far afield as Middlesbrough and Glasgow – and the atmosphere was brilliant from start to finish.
Our next event stars Vanessa Kisuule and Toria Garbutt on Thursday 14 April and tickets are available here!
Tubthumping at The Constitutional in Farsley on Thursday 14 April
Nymphs & Thugs are thrilled to announce that we’re working with our first-ever Irish poet. Stephen James Smith is highly-acclaimed on both sides of the water, and we’ve teamed up with Reckless Records in Ireland to co-release his debut album ‘See No Evil‘.
The album will be released digitally on 1 April, with the single ‘I’ve Had Lovers’ released on 11 March. There’ll also be a vinyl release later in the year – provisionally planned for autumn 2022. Stephen’s album release is being supported by a tour of the UK & Ireland over the coming months.
The 9 track album was recorded during lockdown in County Wexford, after Stephen found himself moving down from Dublin during the pandemic. This presented the opportunity to work with Gavin Glass in Orphan Recording Studios. Stephen was awarded the Music Industry Stimulus Package under the Recording Stimulus fund to help with the making of the album, which is produced and composed by Gareth Quinn Redmond.
Stephen James Smith UK & Ireland tour dates
This album is a culmination of years of work and a chance meeting. I was never really sure what ‘sound’ I wanted to have underscore my poetry. I’ve so many influences from trad, folk and hip-hop – and then I met Gareth, and instantly we had a bond and he ‘got’ what I was trying to do. I’m a bit more restrained in my performance than I ordinarily would be on this album, but Gareth’s music helps to bring the emotional intensity I would aim for as a solo performer. So, the opportunity to collaborate on a longer-form project like this was just brilliant. I learned so much and I’m happy with what we created. In some ways I care how this is received – what we’ve done means a lot to me – but in others, I couldn’t care less. We did what we set out to do and now it’s up to the album to find its way in the world.
Stephen James Smith
We’re really excited to add Stephen to our roster of artists and expand our work into Ireland and Northern Ireland over the next few years as a result.
Some of you will have attended one of our ‘LIVEwire’ events over the last 5 years. And we’ll keep staging them, in various shapes and sizes, whenever the opportunities present themselves. But if ‘LIVEwire’ has a home in Leeds, it’s Hyde Park Book Club. And so, in introducing a regular event in Farsley, we decided to create a new night altogether.
So, we’re dead excited to introduce ‘Tubthumping’, which we’re presenting at The Constitutional in partnership with the team behind Trouble At Mill and The Old Woollen. As always, it’ll provide a rip-roaring evening of the UK’s finest spoken word poetry talent. And we’ll have a showcase section at each event, featuring some of the best emerging talent in West Yorkshire.
Tubthumping at The Constitutional, Farsley on Friday 4 March
After experiencing catastrophic production delays which wreaked havoc around Europe, we finally have our Disarm Hate x Poetry vinyl! Firstly, we’d just like to apologise profusely to the customers who’ve pre-ordered these and have been waiting patiently for them to arrive.
The records were pressed at Deepgrooves in the Netherlands, which is the greenest pressing plant in the world. But when we sent them our masters back in spring 2021, not even they could have predicted how long it would take for the job to actually be finished. It turns out that COVID + Brexit = quite the combo.
But the important thing is that they’re here now, in all their glory. And as pre-orders are shipped around the UK, out to Europe, and over to the US, the remaining copies are available to purchase here for £20 plus P+P.
You can read more about the Disarm Hate x Poetry project here. And it’s important to note that all profits from these vinyl sales will be split between LGBTQ charities. Apologies again for the delay. And fingers crossed you’ll all love this album as much as we do…!
After a sold-out show to kick-start our 2019-20 LIVEwire tour, we return to The Edge Theatre & Arts Centre in Manchester for another evening of electric spoken word poetry. Your guests for the night are Toria Garbutt, Maria Ferguson, Andrew McMillan, and Ella Otomewo.
The inimitable Joelle Taylor is touring her new collection ‘C+nto & Othered Poems‘, and we’re over the moon to have linked her with The Leeds Library for the Yorkshire leg. She’s at the stunning 253-year-old venue on Friday 3 September.
Nymphs & Thugs 