“Record of the Week” - GILLES PETERSON (BBC 6MUSIC)

"Lovely bouncy jazzy vibes!" - MATTHEW HALSALL

"Really cool, I like it a lot" - ALEXANDER NUT

“Probably the most exciting young talent in UK electronic music right now” – SABOTAGE TIMES

“A young producer with serious talent…simply in a different league” – TOPMAN GENERATION

“Happy-go-lucky energy” –THUMP …Recent praise for Werkha

Out 11th May on Tru Thoughts, “Dusk feat. Bryony Jarman-Pinto” is the first single from rising Manchester based producer Werkha’s June debut album ‘Colours Of A Red Brick Raft’, unveiling two striking upfront tracks from the LP.

The launch of his debut full-length record builds on a landmark 2014 for the young producer and multi-instrumentalist which saw his “Beacons” EP championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson (BBC 6Music), Monki (BBC R1), Rob da Bank (BBC R1), John Kennedy (XFM), Nemone (BBC 6Music), Goldierocks (The Selector), Bonobo’s BBC R1 Essential Mix, THUMP, Eton Messy, Sabotage Times and Topman Ctrl. With his mesmerising live outfit gaining ever more attention, Werkha was also handpicked to play Mr Scruff’s album launch and to support Bonobo and Chet Faker on international tours, a series of events which added fuel to his creative fire, giving him an inspirational window into the workings of these revered artists while also feeding the innate wanderlust which he draws on in his own music.

Werkha is the solo project of Tom A. Leah, who moved from the urban bustle of Manchester to the sticks of Cumbria as a child, later returning to the city of his birth to study music and pursue his career. While his creative inspirations are anchored in these two geographically close but starkly different environments that he calls home, the same fascination with capturing a sense of place also infuses his music with the energy and flavours of travel and adventure.

A crisp snapshot of a twilight scene, “Dusk” is a beautifully evocative and memorable song that sees Leah continuing his ever-evolving creative partnership with lifelong friend Bryony Jarman-Pinto; having also appeared on “Sidesteppin’”- one of the standout cuts from “Beacons” – theclear and pristine, jazz-inflected vocals of this star in-the-making intertwine with a strolling bassline and cinematic strings to emotive effect. With the ambiguity of the lyrics heightening the image’s clarity, a transcendental feeling emerges as the song spins out into another dimension revolving around the finely tuned instrument of Jarman-Pinto’s voice in an expressive improvised section.