Worricka Mesmerises With Brand New Single

Cover Art by YourToyRobot

Article By Iain McCallum

This July heralds the release of new music from Worricka - an artist who has been working quietly in the studio whilst waiting for the right track and the perfect moment to land.

The moment is now and Mesmerised brings to fruition and the public ear a collaboration that has endured for some time. Two voices merge in this compelling dance composition - Worricka and legendary singer, DJ and style icon, Boy George.

We meet in The Ivy Club, not far from where Worricka lives in the heart of Soho. I'm keen to find out a little more about how this partnership came about but first - let's talk about the early days and the path that led to this moment in the singer-songwriter's burgeoning career in the ever-changing music business.

In his characteristic laid back style Worricka arrives and spends our time together nursing a black Americano.  We turn our attention to where and when it all began.  He is amused as he recalls the moment his family realised they had a musician at home:

"I suppose my family started to pay more attention when I was like 7 years old.  We were on holiday and we had watched "Singing in the Rain" the night before. The next day I was singing Singing in the Rain and I said to my dad - ‘I can sing jazz’ and he was like ‘go on then’ - and I think that was one of my first memories of singing”

It was all about performance at first, a talent nurtured at school and Saturday stage school classes until in his early teens he started to write.  Worricka recalls with a smile memories of his days at school in Westcliff, Essex, “I was in a rock band with a few school friends when I was 13 and we wrote some songs. The first one was terrible, but I think we had some good ones too haha…but when I was 14 I started writing with my piano teacher Mike Kenton and we began writing these soul / jazz songs. He’s an amazing soul / jazz pianist and it was the first time I’d really improvised and I loved it. The music came out very husky, soul, Donny Hathway vibes”

Photography By Toby Cisneros

At this time the decision was taken by his parents to send Worricka to the Brit School in London. Logical to nurture raw talent in an environment focused on creativity.  It was here that his path crossed with a friend who would later become an influence and also one of the world's most successful music stars, Adele.  How did they connect?

"I had first seen Adele sing her song ‘My Same’ at the Brit School open day. She had this outrageous amazing voice that shocked me. I thought it was very Blu Cantrell with her vibrato, but she was just so amazing and unique. I used to listen to the live track on the Brit website before I started studying there, so when I got to meet her at school I was basically meeting her as a fan, then we became friends. She is funny, warm and crazily honest. Almost the whole school went to her 18th birthday where she had a few bands play, I think it was in Brixton. She would always sing with her guitar around school, some very cool memories”

Worricka would be first to admit that unexpected meetings and connections have helped his career progress but he is first to emphasise that there has to be a reason - the chemistry has to be there for a connection to bear fruit. A fair number of collabs happen these days without any real sense of there being a creative vibe between the artists. Not so in the case of Mesmerised, this new track on which Worricka performs alongside the aforementioned Boy George.  

The two first met some 15 years ago when a chance encounter on the phone via a mutual friend, the drag icon and DJ Lady Lloyd, led to a relationship based on a shared passion for music, performance and composition. It happened when Worricka texted Lady Lloyd while she and George were on their way to a Vivienne Westwood fashion show in Paris. Worricka knew Lloyd from the club scene and happened to message at a moment when Worricka felt emboldened by some music he’d written. He asked Lloyd to play the track to George who liked what he heard and since then has supported, mentored and worked in the studio with Worricka.

His affection for the singer is clear when he describes how the friendship and working relationship evolved,

"It all began with George when he asked me to appear with him at The Jazz Cafe in Camden.  We opened the show together with a gospel song - "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen".  It was pretty surreal.. George has this amazing stage presence”

Worricka is open about the fact that, as many artists do, he found himself in periods of disillusionment when he wasn't writing and now thanks the star for keeping him on track, "George supported me when I wasn't writing or recording. He asked me to sing on his album which we did in Dean Street Studios in Soho and I supported him at Eventim Apollo.  This meant a lot because he was believing me in moments when I wasn’t doing much music stuff. With Mesmerised I’d written the song and thought George would sound amazing on it and he does. He has brought so much to it. A few of my friends couldn't tell us apart as we sound so similar.”

Photography By Toby Cisneros

Alongside George he lists his influences as Amy Winehouse and his favourite singer of the moment - Chaka Khan.  

"I am very influenced by neo-soul singers like Erykah Badu and Jill Scott. I also love Jazmine Sullivan and of course Mariah!!! I am an official Lamb."

It all seems very busy but when time allows what's next?  More gigs at Ronnie Scott's perhaps? 

“One place I have in mind is the St Moritz Club on Wardour Street. - a basement bar - very Old Soho and it reminds me of the Black Gardenia. I like the intimacy. Usually I have a five piece band with sax but that has changed with the new tracks. I have a lot of layered production and backing vocals, so I think the set-up will be keys, bass, drums and track." 

And after Mesmerised? "We have another song coming afterwards - the next one is a sister song with the same producers. I think there is a jazz influence in my voice but the music is giving a high energy soul vibe, but with haunting elements. When we wrote Mesmerised it reminded us a bit of Bowie ‘Let's Dance’

"Oh.. and George is working on a house remix of Mesmerised with Kinky Rowland - I have just released Love is Alone, a song about heartbreak, and I think I’m working with DJ Fat Tony on a track too..."

"Really my only game plan is to release new songs and to do more live shows!" 

Commenting on what it has been like to work with Worricka, when asked, Boy George himself stated:

“I love Worricka’s jazzy tones and we have worked on a few things together. I don’t know why we have never written together but we should. He sounds great doing reggae and he brings a familiar flavour with his voice but he still sounds like himself. I hear a bit of Jessye Norman and that’s serious praise! Amen!”

So, the writing was on the wall from earliest times. Music is Worricka's calling and now is the time to share new work and music that is set to keep dance floors pulsating this summer and into the future.

Photography By Toby Cisneros