Agbeko - When the People Say (2026) [Hi-Res]

Manchester’s Agbeko release their new album When the People Say on 23 October 2026 (9 tracks; limited-edition vinyl and digital). The band grew out of the Afrobeat lineage from Fela Kuti to Antibalas and writes its own chapter by fusing Ethio-jazz, British protest song and a raucous dance-floor energy. Its songs call for change and healing, and its live shows set dance floors alight across Europe.

Fronted jointly by Amber Kuti and Mali Hayes, who share lead vocals equally, the album is built on duality: personal inner monologues coexist with sweeping calls to action. The listener is invited both to revel and to reflect. Songlines magazine has previously described the band as “large, spectacular, electric, emotive”.

Eleven musicians perform on the record: two vocalists, a rhythm section (drummer Jon Needham, percussionist Matt Brown, bassist Alasdair Simpson, guitarist James Girling, keyboardist Max O’Hara) and a powerful horn section (Emily Burkhardt, Jamie Stockbridge, Graham South, James Keirle). On the closing section of the fifth composition, the horns and rhythm section take up “beaten metal”. All lyrics are by saxophonist and bandleader Jamie Stockbridge; the music is credited to the whole band. Matt Brown produced, with Stockbridge, Girling and Keirle as co-producers.

Most of the material was recorded in May 2024 at Giant Wafer Studios in Wales. Three tracks (A3, B2, B4) were completed in April 2025 at Hope Mill Recording Studios in England. Steven Berson (Total Sonic Media) mastered the album, and Charlotte Wellings (Realm of Pixels) created the cover art. The band’s previous album, There Must Be Another Way, came out in November 2023; its discography also includes D.O.D. (2020) and the single Leaders of the Free World/Submit (2018).

Tracklist:
1. Agbeko - Know How
2. Agbeko - Cold of the Water
3. Agbeko - I Met an Elder
4. Agbeko - Let Go
5. Agbeko - Work It All Out
6. Agbeko - I Saw Another
7. Agbeko - Need Nobody
8. Agbeko - I Found My Mother
9. Agbeko - Just for a Little While