cktrl – robyn

Back in November 2020, South London’s cktrl shared 'robyn', his most ambitious work yet collaborating with the likes of Duval Timothy, Coby Sey (Micachu, Tirzah, Dean Blunt) and Purple Ferdinand to create a vital exploration of modern classical. With a shared ethos of elevating and amplifying leftfield black music, he partnered with Errol and Alex Rita's South London based label, Touching Bass, themselves a key cog within the city’s bubbling musical underbelly.

The project went on to be one of 2020's most celebrated critical releases, taking cktrl to the front cover of CRACK Magazine, numerous 'Best Album Of The Year' inclusions and star-studded coverage from Pitchfork and Mixmag to Dazed, i-D and VOGUE. Spurred on by the overpowering feelings of heartbreak, 'robyn' impressively creates emotive and heartfelt clarinet and saxophone-led soundscapes about the all-consuming power of love. On the project, cktrl says: “‘Robyn’ at its core is heartbreak and is just really sentimental. It’s a journey of losing a love but it ends with optimism as you find strength to love again.” Born and bred in Lewisham, cktrl aka Bradley Miller is an integral part of London’s pioneering musical underground.

One of the only remaining original DJs on NTS, cktrl has previously worked with and played alongside the likes of Sampha, Sango, Kelela and Dean Blunt. Throughout his career to date, cktrl has also been recognised and heralded by fashion and film VIPs including Virgil Abloh, Bianca Saunders, Tremaine Emory, Nicholas Daley and Jenn Nkiru who recently secured him a cameo in Beyonce’s heralded ‘Black Is King’.

Tracklist:

1. dreams of you are too much to speak 2. love and all the things 3. lighthouse 4. robyn 5. will the feelings leave 6. as you are