South Yorkshire musician Skinny Pelembe previews new album at Yellow Arch Studios in February

Skinny Pelembe is a multi-talented wonder, born in Johannesburg and raised in Doncaster, who crafts patchworks of personal and musical touchstones, a distinctive musical style; memories and observations are weaved together, sun-dazzled folk, afro-tipped and psychedelic tangents diced with the murkier corners of the UK dance lineage.

Skinny Pelembe released his debut album, Dreaming Is Dead Now, in 2019 to widespread acclaim. Following his recent switch to the excellent Partisan Records label (also home to the likes of Idles, Fontaines D.C, and Laura Marling to name a few), a sophomore album release is due later this year, with further details to be announced imminently.

In the meantime Skinny Pelembe has also released a new single, "Oh, Silly George" which follows Skinny Pelembe’s returning single, "Like A Heart Won’t Beat" released at the close of 2022 via Partisan Records (Idles, Fontaines D.C, Fela Kuti, Laura Marling, Beth Orton).

Speaking about the track, Skinny Pelembe had this to say:

"Just a few snapshots of those "strangers" that we know. Whether on home soil or in motion, always the eternal stranger. Someone asked me if George is England. He wasn't when I wrote it, but it's a cool idea...

Anyway, I'm not here to spoon feed you the meanings of all this, do some of the graft yourself. Lots of trying to make me and Malcolm sound sampled. F****ng 1, and 2 beat chops on the drums and guitar. An extremely considered but ramshackle groove. I was hearing early Macca, but Malc reckons the synths sound more like Wham!

That might be a bad thing, but sometimes bad feels good."

The incredible musician and singer will be playing his second show of this year at Sheffield’s Yellow Arch Studios on Thursday, 2 February, 2023 — which is being performed as part of Independent Venue Week.

You can buy tickets to his Sheffield show here: