With music, collaboration, and artistic expression at its core, one of Ireland’s newest music initiatives, The X Collective, has been going from strength to strength since its launch in May 2020. Founded by industry pros, Emily Shaw (Oíche Events) and Ele Breslin (Zapho), the collective hosts many talented Irish artists both at home and abroad, and has grown from hosting 70 artists and creatives, to over 100 in the last year. They now have recorded a mass-collaborative album including over 35 contributors due for release in 2022, and share the second taste of it with a new energetic anthem, ‘Ascension’.
The single is the collaborative brainchild of three of the Collective’s members, powerhouse vocalists Jess Kav (prev. BARQ), Senita (God Knows, prev. Shookrah) and Toshín. Together they have birthed an industrial, RnB-rock belter giving you three minutes of pure energy, in which they infuse topics of empowerment, self-love, spirituality, and emotional release.
‘Ascension’ was produced by one of Ireland’s most exciting new composers and singer-songwriter, Liam Geddes, written and recorded over two days at The X Collective’s songwriting camp earlier this year. What you hear in this track captures the evocative, creative energy directly resulting from a curated camp. The brass was written and recorded in the early hours, surrounded by other X Collective members, as they all roared the chorus into mics on backing vocals. A moment of healing and communal energy which was needed after 18 months of isolation, this cathartic experience is evident in the lyrics and volume of the song.
The first single from the collective, released in 2020, was ‘Collide ft Jenny Browne’ by ZAPHO & Tolü Makay, followed by 90’s banger ‘WB’ performed by members Chloë Agnew, Zapho, Senita, Toshín, and Gemma Bradley.
The X Collective’s Creative Directors, Zapho and Emily Shaw;
Zapho says ‘We are beyond thrilled to see the growth of the community considering its inception was just under 18 months ago. It seems mad writing out our goals or plans for the collective during a pandemic, but against the odds we actually managed to achieve them all, we have a budding and growing community, we hosted a songwriting camp, recorded our album and have a full showcase of original music ready for festival season! Emily added: Lots of hard work, but it’s worth it, forging close friendships and further connections is what glues this whole project together. We are all genuinely routing for one another’.
‘Ascension’ the second song from The X Collective’s forthcoming album, performed by collective members Jess Kav, Senita and Toshín, is out on all platforms now.
Before the arrival of The X Collective’s album, which will be released in 2022, this dynamic collective of neo-soul, hip hop, jazz and pop artists will perform and showcase these new songs at a venue near you.
The X Collective have a number of headline events and festivals in the coming months across Ireland. In essence, the collective are a supergroup of individually practicing artists who collaborate together across the same hour set, in an array of genres; jazz, soul, rnb, hip-hop, pop, electro etc. The group is interchangeable from show to show with artists showcasing original songs written at the songwriting camp earlier this summer.
Each set has approx 18 performers, and with over 100 creatives in the collective, there’s always a different combination of collaborators, artists, musicians and songs, so you will never see the same show twice!
Since the return of gigs this September, TXC have performed on a number of notable partnerships including Heineken (for Island’s Edge Launch), The Sugar Club, Guinness Cork Jazz Festival to a sold-out crowd at The Everyman, Beatyard, Nialler9 at The Cellar venue launch.
Oíche Events- Instagram | Oíche Events -Twitter |Oíche Events – Facebook |www.oicheevents.com
Senita – Facebook |Senita – Twitter |Seinta – Instagram |Senita Spotify
Toshín – Facebook | Toshín- Twitter |Toshín – Instagram |Toshín – Spotify
Jess Kav – Facebook |Jess Kav – Twitter |Jess Kav – Instagram |Jess Kav – Spotify
