Songs for Lost Travellers: Vinyl LP

Confucius MC & Bastien Keb Announce Debut Album On Shabaka Hutchings’ Native Rebel Recordings Label.

“[Bastien Keb is] a truly original talent”
Gilles Peterson

"[Con is] a huge influence on my life, my character and my rhyme-style"
Kae Tempest

South London rapper Confucius MC returns to Shabaka Hutchings’ Native Rebel Recordings for a new project alongside producer and multi-instrumentalist Bastien Keb. Merging unexplored pathways between rap, folk, and jazz into a spiritual triumvirate, Songs For Lost Travellers, set for release on February 7th 2025, is an album unlike any either artist has made previously, possibly unlike any record in existence. 

Honest and direct, the duo imbue Songs For Lost Travellers with knowledge and truth from their lived experiences. There is grief hidden in the notes, an inherent sadness that is balanced with an awareness that grief is a protest against the social machinery of remaining numb. The record lingers in a meditative state, unafraid of restlessness and embracing solitude, with the expectation that peace is just as imminent as death.

Neither Con nor Keb bothered much with the professional studio in making Songs For Lost Travellers. Instead, they opted for the raw state of their home recordings and first takes, matching the intimacy of being alone and reflective in their creative energies. Room static on ‘Tell Me Lies’ makes it feel like you’ve entered their apartments. The immediacy continues on ‘Gutters’, as Keb plays guitar while watching the tele and Con hums along to the vocal melody in search of the proper pocket for his verse.