Ishmael Ensemble return with new single “Rise” ft. Pete Josef
Previous praise for Ismael Ensemble:
“Combining genres from jazz to minimalism with a great city's musical heritage, without resorting to pastiche, is no mean feat.” – The Guardian (Contemporary Album Of The Month)
“These guys just get better with every release” – Gilles Peterson, BBC Radio 6 Music
“a beautiful, multi-layered tapestry of sound.” – Electronic Sound
“Pete Cunningham’s past as a deep house producer and genre-defying DJ reaps ripe rewards on his ensemble’s skittering West Country homage. . . Ishmael Ensemble cleverly, psychedelically blur the lines” – MOJO (Jazz Album Of The Month)
“seemingly capable of doing anything, yet remaining fleet footedly themselves throughout.” – The Wire
"It's challenging, and all the more satisfying for that" – DJ Mag
“an inspiration” – CLASH
“the quality of the creative imagination at work raises this above standard trip-hop fare into something quite epic” – Jazzwise
“Beautiful music” – Dan Snaith, Caribou
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Today, Bristol’s Ishmael Ensemble return with a new track titled ‘Rise’. The slow blooming, soulful new song is their first released since last year’s single ‘Golden’ and features critically acclaimed genre-bending vocalist and fellow Bristolian, Pete Josef alongside Ezra Collective’s Joe Armon-Jones on keys.
Over the past decade, Pete Cunningham has grown Ishmael Ensemble from sampling his mates in his bedroom studio to a world-touring main stage experience that draws on his deep electronica roots and the Ensemble’s genre-fluid chops, which tap danceable jazz, modernist folk, lilting minimalism, groove-heavy psychedelia and more.
Their complex and warm arrangements have seen them land #2 and #33 UK chart positions in the Official Dance Albums and Albums Chart respectively, a BBC Radio 6 Music Album Of The Year and multiple playlist spots, Contemporary Album Of The Month at The Guardian, Jazz Album Of The Month at MOJO, and more. The last album, 2024's Rituals, celebrated the heights the band had reached, bringing their maximalist euphoria to fill huge spaces that include a critically acclaimed set on Glastonbury’s West Holts stage, a featured performance at the prestigious New York Winter Jazz Festival, and global international tours playing across the UK, EU, Australia, Mexico, and the US.
Today’s new single ‘Rise’ nods towards a gentler, more intimate sonic chapter for the Ensemble. There are still those trademark elements that fans have come to know and love the band for – the movement inducing basslines and the audible heartbeat of their hometown, emphasised here by Josef’s guest vocal (he lives on the same terrace of mining cottages in Radstock that Cunningham spent formative years in as a teenager). However, here they move towards a softer palette of woodwinds, flutes & harps alongside the broken beats and dubby basslines synonymous with previous records.
Speaking on the single Cunningham says, “It’s been so fun getting back in the studio with new collaborators, Pete’s vocal range is wild, I’m in total awe - then there’s Joe’s keys parts that subtly elevate it to a totally new place - both complete maestros in their fields and a pleasure to work with”.
Hear / share ‘Rise’ ft. Pete Josef here
With more new music in the works, ‘Rise’ turns over a new leaf for Ishmael Ensemble and stands as proof that 10-years on & still completely independent, the group continue to evolve and blossom from their celebrated electronic-jazz crossover roots into something more reflective and inward-facing.
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