Sydney Minsky Sargeant from Working Men's Club announces solo debut album 'Lunga' - Out September 12

Domino is pleased to announce the signing of Working Men’s Club’s Sydney Minsky Sargeant who will release his debut solo album Lunga on September 12th.

Lunga is the sound of a door opening onto a pasture, fog rolling over grass as the sun rises in the distance; it is the sound of renewal, and a sense of optimism. These are glistering melodic songs, an antidote to the chaos and abrasive atmosphere of touring, and a beautiful side-step from the music that Sydney Minsky Sargeant has been recording as Working Men’s Club for the past seven years.

The 12 songs that mark Lunga were written over a period of years, beginning when Minsky Sargeant (who usually goes by Syd) was a teenager growing up in Todmorden and following a chronology to the present day. It’s a deeply personal insight and Lunga feels like a haven, a world we can all step into. Through the record’s unique personality, there are also delicate flourishes of Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, Bon Iver, Bill Callahan, and Robert Kirby’s lush string arrangements as drowsy, ethereal sounds hover in the background.

Today, Minsky Sargeant shares the first single from Lunga, “I Don’t Wanna”. Featuring delicate fingerpicking over restrained synths, Syd’s unadorned and intimate vocals are given centre-stage: “Confide in me / I’ll put down everyone / I’ll put down everything / If loving this is wrong then I don’t wanna be right.”

Watch the video – directed by Nick Griffiths / &SON - for “I Don’t Wanna” here.

Stream “I Don’t Wanna” here.

Talking about the album and “I Don’t Wanna”, Minsky Sargeant says: “I’m trying to wear my heart-on-my-sleeve a bit more, these songs come from a search for meaning and understanding. I’m always trying to unpick myself and those around me, the ones I love and loved the most. There were thoughts and feelings that these songs helped me express, address and make sense of.”

Watch the video for 'I Don't Wanne' here Last week, Minsky Sargeant also revealed “Intro”– the opening track and tone setter of Lunga – as well as a session track of “For Your Hand” – recorded at The Nave Studios in Leeds, where the album was also recorded.

Watch the video for “Intro” here.

Watch the live version of “For Your Hand” here

As one of the North West’s most productive, and versatile musicians, Syd is a self-made force of nature whose dynamic, shock-laden live performances have seen him grace Glastonbury stages, tour the UK and Europe, appear on Later with Jools Holland and be feted by such renowned musicians as Atticus Ross (NIN), Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder and Confidence Man for his critically acclaimed albums as Working Men’s Club. Most recently, LCD Soundsystem picked Working Men’s Club to support them at 4 of their 8 dates as part of their Brixton Academy residency that kicks off this week in London.

As a testament to his prolificness and deep understanding of songwriting and production, Syd recently joined forces with Daniel Avery and Ghost Culture to form the new collaborative project Demise of Love. He has contributed vocals to a duet with System Olympia, regularly remixes other artists and co-curates a lineup as a resident at his monthly clubnight in Todmorden. He co-produced Lunga alongside long-time collaborator Alex Greaves (who had encouraged him to put the solo songs he was writing down in the studio), Minsky Sargeant also plays most of the instruments on the record. It’s very easy to forget that he is still just 23 years old.

At points, Lunga evokes emotions of guilt, loneliness, anger but presents them with a sense of acceptance, the urge for peace from the past and a longing for a new chapter. Syd remarks that a ‘Lunga’ for him, and to a greater extent the album itself, “is another way of saying we are all one and the same deep down and that we should try to remember that a little more. In a world that has never felt so scary and polarised, I just hope this album connects with people.”

Out of a tumultuous personal period of growth, Sydney Minsky Sargeant has metamorphosised into one of the most original, fearless, and creatively ambitious talents. He is the real deal. With Lunga, an audacious, singular vision is realised.