Knats share ‘7 Bridges To Burn’ (Nadine Shah and Man Power’s ‘Return To The Bridges’)
L-R: Ferg Kilsby, Stan Woodward, King David-Ike Elechi | Photo credit: Ellie Slorick
“It’s moments like this where Knats excel not only as individual players but as a collective whose compositions reach beyond the purview of UK jazz.” - Pitchfork
“a big compositional leap, boldly examining poverty, prison and crime via action-packed sonic fizz bombs” - MOJO
“jazz that is sprawling and eclectic, with gritty, menacing percussion one moment, and bright, groove-led horns the next.” - The Guardian
“Newcastle collective Knats are transcending nostalgia to ask what it really means to trudge through inherited violence and working-class masculinity without a clean way out” - The Line Of Best Fit
“‘A Great Day In Newcastle’ is the best thing to come out of the North East since Andy Carroll. This is an album to get lost in. Lost in the killer melodies, time signatures and rhythms. Lost in the stories but most importantly a place to lose yourself from the grind of work.” - CLASH
“they bring a gust of fresh air straight off the River Tyne” - Observer (One To Watch)
“jaw-dropping brilliance” - Jazzwise
“a triumphant celebration of regional identity; a soaring reminder that even in the shadow of industrial ghosts, new, restless, and beautiful rhythms can still emerge” - Far Out
“like Jason Williamson fronting National Health had they been steeped in bebop and breakbeat culture” - The Wire
“For Knats, it feels like this is just the opening act of something bigger.” - All About Jazz
“You will be hearing more from Knats.” - The Arts Desk
Today, Geordie jazz trailblazers Knats have released their new EP ‘A Great Night In Newcastle’. The EP features a number of reworkings and remixes of fan favourites from their album ‘A Great Day In Newcastle’, which was shortlisted as one of last night’s Mercury Prize Albums Of The Year. The ceremony saw Knats give one of their most memorable performances to date with an incendiary, televised rendition of their breakthrough track ‘Wor Jackie’.
To mark the new release, the band have shared a new rendition of ‘7 Bridges To Burn’ by fellow Tyneside iconoclasts Nadine Shah and Man Power titled ‘Return To The Bridges’. Here, the poignant album track is reimagined by Man Power for the night hours, full of dark and gritty bass, labyrinthine synth lines, subtle warped sampling, and street walking beats. This is all tied together by Nadine Shah’s powerful delivery of poet Cooper Robson’s lyrics about working-class life, resilience, and North East identity.
Speaking on the track, Man Power says “I remember Nadine’s face from her being on the dance floor when I used to throw a party and DJ at the old Red Rooms in Newcastle almost 20 years ago. I also remember meeting her properly at a house party a few years later and my jaw hitting the floor when she jumped on a piano and started singing. Soon after that she took her place as a bonafide alternative mega star and I’ve wanted to work with her ever since. Similarly, Knats blew me away the first time I ever heard them too, when I booked them to play a party I was doing at World Headquarters. You could see from the start they were going to be huge. We’ve spoke about remixes a few times in recent years, but I couldn’t pass the opportunity up to kill two birds with one stone and do this project of remixing them with Nadine. There’s so much talent rooted in the region on this remix, which is something I find myself caring about more and more as I find myself in this lovely phase of being able to basically suite myself with which projects I do."
Hear / share ‘7 Bridges To Burn’ (Nadine Shah and Man Power’s ‘Return To The Bridges’) here
A key face in the next generation of jazz artists coming through, Knats signed to legendary label Fontana (UK home to AURORA, Jordan Rakei, Jacob Collier, Jon Batiste, Madison Cunningham and more) just two weeks before their album ‘A Great Day In Newcastle’ came out, landing a #2 position in the Official Jazz & Blues Chart and setting the band down a whirlwind path which has seen them perform on Later… With Jools Holland and land a playlist spot on BBC Radio 6 Music. The EP also follows the band’s politically charged recent single ‘Bowling Ball‘, which was recorded, mixed, and mastered at London’s inimitable Metropolis studios, and featured artwork by Jim Moir AKA Vic Reeves.
Tracklisting:
1. 7 Bridges to Burn (Nadine Shah and Man Power’s Return to The Bridges)
2. Never Gonna Be A Boxer (corto.alto Remix)
3. Carpet Doctor (Squid Remix)
4. Farewell Jonny Miner (Frankie Archer Remix)
‘A Great Night Out In Newcastle’ is out now via Gearbox/Fontana - order/ stream here
Following an extensive run of summer festival performances – including the band’s first Montreux Jazz Festival appearance, a return to BBC Proms with Nadine Shah and slots at Love Supreme, We Out Here, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, and more – Knats will also embark on an extensive UK headline tour for autumn 2026. Starting today, the dates include two London MOTH Club shows, which both sold out more than four months in advance. The band have also recently announced their biggest London headline show to date at Village Underground in April 2027 as well as their biggest homecoming show at the 1000 cap. venue Boiler Shop in Newcastle.
Tour dates:
23 Oct – King Street Social, North Shields
24 Oct – Durham Jazz Festival, Durham
25 Oct – The Crescent, York
26 Oct – Yellow Arch, Sheffield
27 Oct – Exchange, Bristol
28 Oct – Moth Club, London (second date added)
30 Oct – Moth Club, London (Sold Out)
2 Nov – Heartbreakers, Southampton
4 Nov – Cornish Bank, Falmouth
5 Nov – St Peters Church, Poole
18 Nov – Bodega, Nottingham
20 Nov – Amped, Huddersfield
21 Nov – Future Yard, Birkenhead
2nd Apr – Village Underground, London
3rd Apr – Boiler Shop, Newcastle
Guestlist available upon request
Tickets and more info here
Written by lifelong friends from Newcastle - led by Stan Woodward (bass), King David-Ike Elechi (drums), and Ferg Kilsby (Trumpet; Flugelhorn) - ‘A Great Day In Newcastle’ landed in May as an unflinching love letter to working class Tyneside, community, resilience, and lived experience tackled with the wit and warmth of classic Northern optimism. With Robson adding raw lyrical weight, and artwork evoking Art Kane's iconic Harlem photograph, the album is history alive in the present.
Mixed by the legendary Hugh Padgham and executive produced and mastered by the world-renowned Gearbox Studios, ‘A Great Day In Newcastle’s’ incendiary and captivating blood rush of high-energy and genre-bending, danceable grooves has been fervently devoured by fans and media alike. Not least because of their compelling approach to chronicling the milieu of the North East’s working-class. As the next generation of UK jazz artists start to break through, there is something quintessentially vital about this album coming from this region. From a band who’ve persevered for years with what they recently described to The Guardian as “Geordie optimism” and “hard graft”, pushing through regional disparities that have seen musicians faced with dwindling arts programmes, funding, and inequal opportunities. From Woodward learning to play on a “Tesco guitar” and the band being told they weren’t good enough to cover Arctic Monkeys as kids, to later performing at The Proms in 2024 and Later… with Jools Holland in 2026, there’s a diligence and resolve here that is emblematic of their home region.
‘A Great Night Out In Newcastle’ is out now via Gearbox/Fontana - order/ stream here
