Out now: Blawan – SickElixir

Following the official reveal of the tracklist last week, Blawan – aka Jamie Roberts – releases SickElixir, his debut XL Recordings album. The release lands ahead of his headline show at Village Underground in London on Friday 10 October, where he’ll debuted a brand-new live show, the first of two major headline live shows, with the second in Amsterdam on 22 October – tickets and info here.

Crafted between Berlin, Leeds, Paris, and Lisbon, SickElixir is Blawan’s most personal work to date; a manifesto that has seen him channel grief, family trauma, and seismic life shifts into 14 distinct and expansive tracks. SickElixir builds on his recent EPs – BouQ, Dismantled Into Juice, and Woke Up Right Handed – and plunges deep into Blawan’s chaotic yet meticulously crafted sonic world.

Jamie Roberts has been revered in electronic circles for years as an artist with a fastidious approach to creating his own sound, relentlessly drawing from his teenage influences growing up in Barnsley, a post-industrial town in South Yorkshire. At 14, he started working on a maggot farm and credits the clanging sound of the farm’s industrial mincer as an early influence on his music. After playing in various metal bands, Roberts’ musical horizons began to expand through visits to the West Indian Centre in Leeds, where he was introduced to the full spectrum of electronic music. He first emerged as Blawan at the turn of the 2010s with EPs on cult labels such as Hinge Finger and Hessle Audio, earning widespread critical acclaim. He’s consistently experimented, pushing boundaries in his solo projects while collaborating closely with British producer Pariah on several projects – the live techno act Karenn, the metal-inspired band Persher, and the label Voam. SickElixir marks the next step in solidifying his position as one of contemporary music’s unique, pioneering artists, operating firmly in a lane of his own.

Over the next month, Blawan will take his new live show to London, Amsterdam, Turin, Barcelona, and Warsaw to revered festival’s including Warehouse Project, Club to Club, and more.

Stream / purchase SickElixir here.