Closing out 2022 with their debut live shows in London and hometown Margate, United Freedom Collective — the collective co-founded by Robbie Redway, Mathieu Seynaeve and WaiFung Tsang — kick off the new year with a fresh EP “Space Intention” out on 3rd March 2023 via Maribou State’s Dama Dama imprint. 

Drawing on the raw blues and folk of Swedish singer-songwriter Daniel Norgren, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington’s DARKSIDE project, Alice Coltrane, Francis Bebey, Roberto Musci and Shintaro Sakamoto, the four tracks run the full gamut of United Freedom Collective’s broad sonic palette, but are rooted in folkloric traditions as well as the group’s broader influences relating to sound healing, meditation, psychedelic research and therapy, and the civil rights movement in Hong Kong.

Lead single and title track ‘Space Intention’ sets the tone, an uplifting ballad centred around  the incredible choral vocals of The Social Singing Choir. The inspiration came from a Quincy Jones documentary that Robbie, WaiFung and Mathieu were watching together one evening. “There’s a quote where Quincy is talking about orchestration and he says ‘You’ve got to make space to let the Lord shine through’,” explains Robbie. “That really struck a chord, especially given the constant temptation to add more and more parts to an already cluttered track.”     

The next day in the studio the band agreed to set out with the intention to record a feeling of space. “It’s about being humbled by discovering a power much bigger than oneself,” they explain. “It also reminded us of the ‘overview effect’ described by astronauts when they see the earth from space, triggering a state of awe and self-transcendence”.

“The lyrics to the track came to us as we were listening to WaiFung playing those chords on his acoustic guitar” they continue, and speak to that notion of finding connection through introspection and finding others by looking inwards; 

Take a step back, and you’ll see the vastness of the skies and oceans.”

Based in Margate, the band are repeatedly and consistently inspired by the spirit of collaboration in the music community there, and seek to utilise the connections made there across the EP. From Hughie Gavin, founder and leader of The Social Singing Choir (formed in 2017 – no auditions, no need of previous experience, just a place in the community to sing together), to sound therapist and harpist Joanna Miller, drummer Gareth Grover, vocalist Jordan Stephens who featured on 2022’s “Am Ta EP” and Falle Nioke, a brilliant musician from Guinea Conakry in West Africa now based in Margate and signed to PRAH Recordings (a Moshi Moshi imprint) who contributes lead vocals, Gongoma (thumb piano) and Bolon (harp) on ‘Ale Woule’. 

As with all their work to date, the band focused a lot on the process rather than the outcome whilst they were recording. “The idea was that if we would try to make music in a way that was nourishing and healing for us, that this process would somehow be captured into the tracks and could be felt by people who would listen to it,” explains Mathieu.

The EP also includes a cover version of a song originally released by Beyond, a highly successful and influential Cantonese band from Hong Kong. The timeless traditional melody and poetic lyrics depicts the humble life of rural farmers, capturing a deeply rooted love and philosophy between man and the land they live upon. The song is particularly poignant for WaiFung whose family and friends have been directly affected by the ongoing civil rights struggles in Hong Kong and the band felt moved to record a version in homage to freedom.

“Space Intention EP” is out on 3rd March 2023 on Dama Dama.

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