JUNE 2026 ISSUE
JUNE 2026 ISSUE A sneaky peek of just some of what is in the June 2026 issue – OUT NOW! Click to buy this issue and read more… HONORÉ After years of listening to your parents insisting you take care of your education first and thus open yourself up to a secure and sensible career – like your two brothers with their engineering degrees and a sister who’s just completed her Masters – still somehow you decide to throw caution to the wind [not to mention pull the plug on your entire savings] and go make a debut album. And it’s not just any debut album. Oh, no. This debut album has to have – no, it absolutely requires – an 18-piece orchestra, a tight core unit made up of some of Detroit’s finest session musicians and two of the hottest producers around, in order to make it come properly to life. Because, as everyone knows, you have always been in love with sumptuously arranged and played orchestral soul of the type made famous back in Philly International’s seventies heyday… Click here to buy and read more… EMPIRICAL Not a day passes without news of extreme events in the world. From escalating conflict zones to the climate crisis via leaders who are not fit for purpose [let alone office], there are major causes for concern. Empirical’s fine new album, Like Lambs To The Slaughter,tackles this state of affairs head on. As drummer Shane Forbes explains, the band had a desire to think about how and why we are rushing to the brink. “The crux of the concept really is this open question of what are the kind of similarities between us as humans and sheep, which describes someone not being able to make some kind of decision for themselves, or to have an opinion of their own… ” Click here to buy and read more… AZA LINEAGE “For me personally, it’s when a woman remembers who she is,” says Aza Lineage, when asked about the title track of her new album Rebel Daawta. “In simple terms, people would say you’re a ‘hot girl’ or you’re this and that, and there ain’t nothing wrong with being a hot girl if you take care of yourself and look pretty. “For me, a rebel daughter is someone who marches to the beat of her own drum, who has her own understanding of things and doesn’t necessarily rebel for the sake of it, but listens to her inner self. She is guided and governed by that. I know this is right for me, so I’m going to proceed and I feel that in my heart.” The chances of Dana Ana-Kay Bernard transitioning into Aza Lineage, the Rebel Daawta who coaxed King Jammy out of retirement with her breakthrough single Sound System, weren’t exactly high… Click here to buy and read more… KAT EATON WHAT MAKES NICK ATKINSON THE RIGHT PRODUCER/COLLABORATOR FOR YOU? Well, he is my husband! So, for one, he’s free! Joking aside, we’ve been writing together since we were 16, so we’ve got a great connection and when it comes to production Nick already knows the essence of a song and where it needs to go. Some producers can really force their imprint on your music, which can sometimes be beneficial, but sometimes the meaning can get lost under busy string arrangements or heavy samples. It’s been important for us to keep this album close… ” Click here to buy and read more…
Black News 
JUNE 2026 ISSUE
A sneaky peek of just some of what is in the June 2026 issue – OUT NOW!
HONORÉ
After years of listening to your parents insisting you take care of your education first and thus open yourself up to a secure and sensible career – like your two brothers with their engineering degrees and a sister who’s just completed her Masters – still somehow you decide to throw caution to the wind [not to mention pull the plug on your entire savings] and go make a debut album.
And it’s not just any debut album. Oh, no. This debut album has to have – no, it absolutely requires – an 18-piece orchestra, a tight core unit made up of some of Detroit’s finest session musicians and two of the hottest producers around, in order to make it come properly to life. Because, as everyone knows, you have always been in love with sumptuously arranged and played orchestral soul of the type made famous back in Philly International’s seventies heyday…
EMPIRICAL
Not a day passes without news of extreme events in the world. From escalating conflict zones to the climate crisis via leaders who are not fit for purpose [let alone office], there are major causes for concern. Empirical’s fine new album, Like Lambs To The Slaughter,tackles this state of affairs head on. As drummer Shane Forbes explains, the band had a desire to think about how and why we are rushing to the brink.
“The crux of the concept really is this open question of what are the kind of similarities between us as humans and sheep, which describes someone not being able to make some kind of decision for themselves, or to have an opinion of their own… ”
AZA LINEAGE
“For me personally, it’s when a woman remembers who she is,” says Aza Lineage, when asked about the title track of her new album Rebel Daawta. “In simple terms, people would say you’re a ‘hot girl’ or you’re this and that, and there ain’t nothing wrong with being a hot girl if you take care of yourself and look pretty.
“For me, a rebel daughter is someone who marches to the beat of her own drum, who has her own understanding of things and doesn’t necessarily rebel for the sake of it, but listens to her inner self. She is guided and governed by that. I know this is right for me, so I’m going to proceed and I feel that in my heart.”
The chances of Dana Ana-Kay Bernard transitioning into Aza Lineage, the Rebel Daawta who coaxed King Jammy out of retirement with her breakthrough single Sound System, weren’t exactly high…
KAT EATON
WHAT MAKES NICK ATKINSON THE RIGHT PRODUCER/COLLABORATOR FOR YOU?
Well, he is my husband! So, for one, he’s free!
Joking aside, we’ve been writing together since we were 16, so we’ve got a great connection and when it comes to production Nick already knows the essence of a song and where it needs to go. Some producers can really force their imprint on your music, which can sometimes be beneficial, but sometimes the meaning can get lost under busy string arrangements or heavy samples. It’s been important for us to keep this album close… ”
