Cymande have recruited fellow Brit Celeste for a new track entitled “Only One Way,” which marks the second single from the psychedelic funk/soul legends’ first album in a decade, Renascence. The anthemic piano ballad begins with delicate chords and string swells before Celeste’s powerful voice moves above the instrumentation, emphasized by a wandering bass line that introduces the band’s funk-leaning vibes.
“We got together in New York some time ago,” Patrick Patterson, one of Cymande’s founding members, shared about the collaboration. “Celeste approached it melodically and lyrically from a perspective we thought was great, we came back to the UK and perfected it. Her performance is wonderful. It deserved an orchestral arrangement and we had an arranger, Chris Cameron, who could elevate it up to the firmament. He did a brilliant arrangement.”
“It was a blustery New York day, I had just performed at Carnegie Hall, and was asked if I’d like to meet Cymande at a studio close by to Broadway,” Celeste recalls. “I immediately put my hat and coat on and made my way to meet Patrick and Steve [Scipio, bassist] at the studio. We spoke for a little while about all being Caribbean, and then Patrick began to play the guitar—the words and the melody came so naturally, and we cut a vocal that day.
“We then met some months later to refine it all,” she continues, “[and] that’s when I met Adrian Reid, who made me feel so at ease and kindly offered me some piano lessons in the following months. It all felt a healing and enlightening experience to be around the guys, to hear their stories, see their faces and understand who they were and who they are now. Cymande had remained this great mystery to me, as I am sure they did to many others for a long period of time—these legends of this mystical cross-genre—and to hear their account of there journey in music, firsthand, was affirming and assuring.”
Check out “Only One Way” below, and pre-order Renascence here before it drops January 31 via BMG.
