“Cathartic” is the single word 21-year-old Londoner Aziya Aldridge-Moore (known as just Aziya) used on her official Facebook page to describe the release of We Speak Of Tides, her first EP and a release that was spawned from the last year and more of life lived under lockdown. Unable to perform with her band, Aziya instead took to social media, releasing covers of some of her favourite artists, and working on the tracks that would form her debut EP.

Those covers were an eclectic collection, including tracks from Blondie, Grimes, Led Zeppelin and Prince to name just a few. But it's a variety that carries through into this collection, an engaging arrangement of five tracks that shift comfortably between genres and styles. Opening track Blood comes jumping out of the blocks, for example, with it’s skidding guitars, neat effects, and big, punchy chorus, before Slip! ushers in a funkier, almost psychedelic feel. 

That the songs are so eclectic is no accident, but rather reflective of Aziya’s mission statement. In interviews she has spoken of her frustration as a youngster, having picked up the guitar at the age of ten, that so few of her guitar heroes looked like her. Confronting this white male-dominated field is something she has become passionate about. “I didn’t feel like I had guitar role models growing up,” she told the NME in an interview back in April. “A lot of my intention with my music and my playing is to fill the gap I saw when I was younger; that’s always at the back of my mind.”

Musically, We Speak Of Tides keeps you on your toes. Sitting in the middle of the EP, Marathon (“I’ve got to pick myself up and keep running”), has a distinctly Motown edge, while Heaven For Me revolves around a compelling bass line and sweetly distorted, hazy guitars. Closing track Over Again is a dizzying, crashing finale with another big chorus that sees Aziya cry: “It’s a game / You never wanna play if it’s not your rules”. Aziya and others like her are changing those rules, and not before time. 

We Speak Of Tides tracklist:

1. Blood
2. Slip!
3. Marathon
4. Heaven For Me
5. Over Again

Watch the official video for Blood here.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.