The trio draw on diverse spiritual influences to find a musical space where we can feel free whilst connecting to an experience of profound unity.

United Freedom Collective are a new act singed to Maribou State’s label Dama Dama, a sub-label of Ninja Tune. Their debut EP ‘Am Ta’ created waves in late 2022 with radio support from the likes of Gilles Petersen, Jamz Supernova, Tom Ravenscroft and Don Letts, as well as two sell-out live shows in hometowns Margate and London.

In late 2020, Mathieu Seynaeve and WaiFung Tsang, musicians as well as clinicians and researchers of psychedelic therapy, met up with music producer and yoga teacher Robbie Redway for a sound journey on a remote barn on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, which resulted in a set of tracks and practices that shaped the blueprint of what United Freedom Collective is now.

The retreat consisted of meditations, noble silences, cold sea swims, eating plants and mushrooms, meanders and medicine songs by stone circles – all to facilitate space for music with intent. The intention that the music created could offer value to others, healing value, a way to the space where we can feel free but also connected to the unity we are.

As an ever-expanding collective, collaborating with artists such as Falle Nioke, Eliza Shaddad, Jordan Stephens and William Rees, the sound continued to develop into something wider than the imagination. They have been influenced by birds, trees, Buddhism, yoga, headless way meditations, Jungian analysis, Zen Taoism, Chinese plant medicines, indigeneity, Amazonian and psychedelic cultures, icaros, worldwide healing traditions…

Sofia Grant

Sofia Grant grew up in London, surrounded by music. She began her classical training on the piano aged 6 and on the saxophone aged 11, and began performing in venues across the city as a singer-songwriter from the age of 14.

Having spent three years honing her craft as an improviser and performer in Barcelona’s underground jazz scene, Sofia returned to her hometown of London in 2019 and carved out a path as a session vocalist and pianist, performing with UK jazz talents including Poppy Ajudha, Donna Thompson and PYJAEN. As a session musician, she has performed at iconic venues such as the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, Alexandra Palace for Later… with Jools Holland, Ronnie Scotts and Village Underground.

Grant is also the founder of Higher Ground Jam Session (featured on Jazz FM’s ‘Jazz Voices’) which aims to create a safer and more inclusive space for performers of all genders and musical backgrounds to experiment through music.

Her debut release ‘Extinction’ was released on Friday 1st September 2023 on digital and 12” vinyl formats via Jazz re:freshed.

The five-track EP marks Sofia’s first offering as a composer, arranger and producer - alongside her vulnerable and accomplished vocal performance. It is about climate change, nature loss, the impact of human ambition on the natural world, and the extinction of life as we know it.

The first single ‘Ochre’ is out now across all digital streaming platforms via Jazz re:freshed and has received airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music, Jazz FM and Soho Radio.

TIMINGS

2000 Doors Open

2045 Sofia Grant

2200 United Freedom Collective