ABEL MILLER, MAD PROFESSOR - Everytime I See My Baby 7" (MELODIES INTERNATIONAL)

Our next record features a previously unreleased collaboration between the Ariwa camp (Mad Professor’s label and studio) and young UK R&B artist Abel Miller, recording a Lovers Rock cover of the Delfonics’ “Everytime I See My Baby”.

A few years ago, Mad Professor with frequent collaborator and multi-instrumentalist virtuoso Black Steel who regularly records Bass, Guitar, Keys & Vocals for Ariwa Studios (”he can play anything” Mad Professor tells us) set out to record a series of lovers rock covers of the Delfonics. Mad Professor’s love for 60s/70s US Soul is no secret and shines through a lot of his production but he realised he had never heard this song before originally written by Thom Bell and William Hart. They had Ashanti Selah join on keys, Horseman on Drums and asked Abel to do lead vocals and Mad Professor and his son Joe Ariwa recorded and produced the song.

Ever since our first reissue project with Mad Professor a couple years ago (Ariwa Sounds: The Early Sessions LP), he’s been occasionally performing with us (notably on Floating Points’ Sunflower Soundsystem this summer). At our Osaka gig a couple years ago, he closed the show with this song which immediately blew everyone’s minds. After asking what it was, he told us thatMelodies could release it!The 7” will be available in January with the original studio version on one side but also the exclusive live dub version Mad Professor performed in Japan on the flip (vinyl only).