Birmingham Festival 2022: All-star album billed as love letter to city to be released for free

A new all-star concept album billed as ‘a sonic love letter to Birmingham’ will be released to music fans across the world for free in June.

The album, On Record, commissioned and produced by Birmingham Music Archive,will feature eleven original songs exclusively written and recorded by new and established city music talent including Bambi Bains, Cherry Pickles, Dapz on the Map, SANITY, Tj Rehmi, and UB40.

The album is being released as part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival, which features 200 events including a spectacular open-air show, and an immersive 3D experience on public transport, as well as the brand-new Birmingham inspired album.

Available via a limited vinyl run and across all streaming platforms in June 2022, the release - produced by Grammy nominee Simon Duggal and presented by the Birmingham 2022 Festival is being by Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Spanning Afrobeat, neo-soul, trip-hop, Asian electronica, folk, garage rock, jazz, reggae, RnB, Hip-Hop and UK rap, the albumdraws from all corners of the city’s rich and lively music landscape, currently experiencing a renaissance thanks to an explosion of creativity across the city’s cultural industries.

What’s been said about the album?

Jez Collins, founder-director of Birmingham Music Archive and executive producer for the project, said, “After many months of planning, negotiating, recording, mastering and mixing, we are thrilled to finally announce On Record.

“In what we believe is the first-ever multi-artist, multi-genre album to be written completely about a city, the highs - and lows - of this great place we call home have been explored and documented through a myriad of styles and lyrics.

“The artists on On Record represent Birmingham’s incredibly rich and brilliant music past, present and future, as well as the many and varied cultures and communities of the Commonwealth and beyond who call the city home; we cannot wait to share this fantastic album with music lovers across the globe.”

Robin Campbell, vocalist and guitarist with globally acclaimed Birmingham reggae band UB40, said, “The On Record album is an exciting project with an eclectic mix of Birmingham artists that represent the cultural diversity of our city - and we’re proud of our contribution to it.”

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