Renaissance, the debut full-length from London-born composer and multi-instrumentalist DoomCannon, continues this tradition by employing the compositional and improvisational potential of jazz as a means of speaking to the politics of contemporary Black life. Combining a groovy jazz-funk sensibility with the weight and rhythmic thrust of hip-hop, Rennaisance is fresh and propelled by a fiery intensity.

The album opens with “Dark Ages,” a heavy, wistful tune that lures in listeners with a delicate electric piano motif. The head-nodding beat and splashy cymbals kick the tune into overdrive as the main melody soars around the rhythm section. “Uncovering the Truth” is built around nimble-yet-forceful drumming and a lengthy sax solo that’s free as it is exploratory. The album closes with “Black Liberation,” which acts as its emotional thesis statement. DoomCannon’s piano drifts softly around a mournful bassline as Sienna Hamilton’s cries of anguish rise up then fade into the background. Doomcannon lends his voice to the track, sternly proclaiming that “The UK is not innocent,” his indictment reminding us of the role that Europe has played in the global subjugation of Black people. The tone of “Black Liberation” is subdued but in no way passive—there is rage and determination burning in each note.

Pulling from a deep sense of history as well as palpable anger at the tumultuous state of the world today, Renaissance is not just full of inventive musical ideas, its intention points towards a higher purpose. Like the best jazz music of the past, Renaissance uses the music to call for a better world for Black folks everywhere.

Renaissance, the debut full-length from London-born composer and multi-instrumentalist DoomCannon, continues this tradition by employing the compositional and improvisational potential of jazz as a means of speaking to the politics of contemporary Black life. Combining a groovy jazz-funk sensibility with the weight and rhythmic thrust of hip-hop, Rennaisance is fresh and propelled by a fiery intensity.

The album opens with “Dark Ages,” a heavy, wistful tune that lures in listeners with a delicate electric piano motif. The head-nodding beat and splashy cymbals kick the tune into overdrive as the main melody soars around the rhythm section. “Uncovering the Truth” is built around nimble-yet-forceful drumming and a lengthy sax solo that’s free as it is exploratory. The album closes with “Black Liberation,” which acts as its emotional thesis statement. DoomCannon’s piano drifts softly around a mournful bassline as Sienna Hamilton’s cries of anguish rise up then fade into the background. Doomcannon lends his voice to the track, sternly proclaiming that “The UK is not innocent,” his indictment reminding us of the role that Europe has played in the global subjugation of Black people. The tone of “Black Liberation” is subdued but in no way passive—there is rage and determination burning in each note.

Pulling from a deep sense of history as well as palpable anger at the tumultuous state of the world today, Renaissance is not just full of inventive musical ideas, its intention points towards a higher purpose. Like the best jazz music of the past, Renaissance uses the music to call for a better world for Black folks everywhere.

When writing the album, it felt like a transition from writing in other bands and being a part of other people’s projects to having my own voice and to speak about my Black British experience growing up around London. There are things I had to “unlearn”, ways I had to shape myself and my views on the world; greed, corrupt governments and police brutality within the UK and my stance on it all. ‘Renaissance’ is my letter to London about how it raised me and shaped who I am today.”

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As a London-based composer, producer & multi-instrumentalist, DoomCannon spearheaded a plethora of forward-thinking, improvised Jazz-inspired outfits (Project Karnak, Triforce). DoomCannon dabbled in flute and percussion from the age of eleven and classically trained in piano as a teenager where he joined the prestigious Kinetika Bloco youth performance group and training programme, a rite of passage for many of the catalysts of the British Jazz explosion such as brothers Theon & Nathaniel Cross, Mark Kavuma, Sheila Maurice Grey to name a few.