About

Ezra Collective's Here Because Of Hope is the most ambitious and personal record of their career - conceived as a body of work split into three spiritual and geographical movements, the album traces the movement of Black people across continents and decades, from the music of Africa to the rhythms of the Caribbean, and home to the streets of London. Formed in the youth clubs of London, Mercury Prize and BRIT Award-winners Femi Koleoso, TJ Koleoso, Joe Armon-Jones, James Mollison and Ife Ogunjobi have now spent over a decade making jazz joyful, urgent and undeniable. On Here Because Of Hope, they push that vision further than ever, asking a simple but profound question: why does so much Black music born out of pain sound so joyful? Their answer is hope: the belief, carried across generations and oceans, that something better is possible. Anchored by collaborations with Pa Salieu, Lila Iké, Leona Lewis, and reaching across the full breadth of the global African diaspora (including America, where those same African and Caribbean roots gave birth to jazz itself) Here Because Of Hope is a record of remarkable warmth, ambition and humanity, and the sound of Britain's most vital band at the peak of their powers. — (via Label)

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Split into three sections, ‘Here Because of Hope’ is a journey through jazz, geography and time. Interwoven with poetry read by Leticia Wright, Ezra Collective follow the evolution of Black music, tracing its history across the diaspora. Each a landmark, the songs trace the movement of people and histories that have shaped not only Ezra Collective’s work, but more widely contemporary British Black Music as a whole. From its roots in Africa, through to America and the Caribbean all the way to the streets of London where the band call home, the album is a celebration of the culture, tradition, people and resilience that has shaped entire generations of sound. 

Whilst critical acclaim is nothing new for the band, this album shapes up to be their best yet. ‘Here Because of Hope’ as a body of work will resonate with everyone, creating a sense of community against a world of division and disconnection from one another. It is a reminder that we need to cherish and celebrate everything that has built us into the people we have become; the stories, the culture, the roots laid by the people that came before. In spite of pain, in spite of struggle, in spite of all that is thrown at us, there has to be joy. Hope is the thing that gets us through. Hope is what makes the joy feel possible. — (via Where Horns Blow)

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Here Because of Hope is built in three movements, each opened by Letitia Wright reading a short passage: West Africa, then the Caribbean, then London. The interludes are brief and function as seams rather than statements. What matters is what they permit. The first movement is the least characteristic thing this band has recorded. ‘Blow Your Trumpet’, ‘Don’t Worry’ and ‘Someday’ are contemplative rather than propulsive, and after an album as committed to the groove as their last one, the restraint is deliberate and it works. Joy here is a destination, not a starting position.

Seventeen tracks and three readings is a lot of architecture, and the thesis is stated often enough that the record occasionally explains itself when it could simply play. There are fewer showpiece guest moments than last time. But the world the album covers is wider, and the playing is the best argument in it. Joe Armon-Jones and the Koleoso brothers have been locked together since their Tomorrow’s Warriors days, and it shows in how little any of this strains. — (via Quietus)

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— 2LP, Pressed on translucent white vinyl
— Housed in gatefold sleeve
— Includes printed inner sleeve

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Label: Partisan Records
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Translucent White
Released: 2026
Genre: Jazz, Funk / Soul, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Contemporary Jazz, Afrobeat

File under: Modern / Future Jazz
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