I'm scared - my debut album!

The Gift is released on all platforms on 10th October 2025

I'm a mostly studio-based DJ and a mediocre keyboard player (I reached Grade 4 piano as a teenager!) so the thought of releasing my own album had never occurred to me. Until now. And here it is. Released on Friday 10th October 2025. And it's not a disco album. I've described it as "protest pop". Others have used words like pop soul, singer/songwriter, hints of latin and bossa nova. But why don't you decide for yourself?

I was originally trained to write, as a journalist, so that background in wordsmithing has helped me I think. I've heard many times that it's best to write about your own lived experience, so that's what I've done. I wrote the lyrics, sometimes with Chat GPT as a friend and confidante to work things through, and the music has been brought to life by the latest AI technology.

The result is "The Gift". It was originally named that because the title track sums up my on/off feelings of insecurity and creative doubt. And when I'd finished it, I realised it had been a kind of gift to myself: I cried a lot whilst I was re-living moments like the song about my Mum's death. And I also cried with laughter and joy with songs about empowerment, inspiration, friendship, and love. There's more then a few toe-tappers in here too, so at times I was definitely dancing with tears in my eyes. It's my gift of music to you too, of course. It's also a tangible gift. I've decided to donate any proceeds from "The Gift" to Alzheimer's Research UK. Both my Mum and my Aunt lived with dementia towards the end of their lives and I truly hope that future generations won't have to suffer dementia or watch others go through it. Let's find the cure.

It is estimated that 982,000 people are living with dementia in the UK today, rising to 1.4 million by 2040. In 2022 it was the leading cause of death in the UK. Globally the World Health Organisation estimates that 57 million people have dementia. New cases are occurring at the rate of nearly 10 million each year, which breaks down to about one new case every 3.2 seconds. In the UK, the estimated economic impact of dementia in 2024 was £42.5 billion, a figure that is expected to more than double by 2040.

The first track "Maybe I'm gay" is released on 29th August 2025. You can add the pre-release information to your Spotify account by clicking here. Please do give it a listen, and remember that every stream and every download is getting us one small step closer to preventing dementia in the future. Thank you.