British drummer Yussef Dayes rekindles his creative partnership with guitarist Tom Misch on “Rust”, the latest single from his forthcoming debut album, Black Classical Music.
Dayes and Misch broke musical ground with their 2020 collaboration Some Kind Of Music, which also featured saxophonist Kaidi Akinnibi and bassist Rocco Palladino. Culled largely from a session of laid-back, groove-based improvisations, the album fused elements of hip-hop, modern jazz, and electronica and was well-received by critics and fans, ultimately peaking at number four on the Official Albums Chart in their native United Kingdom. Since then, Dayes has continued to cultivate a global fan base with solo tours, brand collaborations, and a well-curated social media presence.
After recently dropping the title track to his upcoming solo debut and setting a release date of September 8th, Dayes posted a clip of himself and Misch in the studio tracking the song “Rust” together and promised to share the full track if the video reached 5,000 comments. Dayes dropped the single after the post amassed 5,000 comments in less than 12 hours, and on Tuesday he shared an animated video for the song directed by Jack Brown.
As with their previous collaborations, Dayes and Misch bring out the best in each other on “Rust”. The song combines Dayes’ vibrant spontaneity and deeply rooted sense of groove with Misch’s atmospheric yet equally solid mood-building. The latter’s guitar is pitched down to occupy the range of the bass, but his clever use of harmonics adds what sounds like a second melodic voice to the mix. That role goes to the keys, however, which seem to have been added after the session captured in the video.
Dayes’ drumming is full of life, and he can be heard letting out groans as he pushes himself to go for impossibly quick fills without ever losing the groove. Check out the video for “Rust” below.
Following the release of Black Classical Music on September 8th, Dayes will celebrate with his biggest U.K. show to date at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London on October 12th. In the meantime, he has some upcoming shows in California in addition to festival appearances in Europe. For a full list of tour dates, visit his website, and click here to pre-order/pre-save Black Classical Music.
Yussef Dayes – “Rust” (ft. Tom Misch)