“If You Are Intently Listening, It’s Going To Ask Some Questions Of You”: Moses Boyd On Crafting Songs For Sinners

Songs For Sinners cements Moses Boyd as the visionary voice he always promised to be; his blend of soul, jazz, gospel and electronica crosses far beyond the boundary of convention and expectation.

Despite his legacy already including a Mercury-Prize shortlist, a MOBO award and an outstanding reputation as a drummer, composer, producer, it is the work of Songs For Sinners that has seen Moses Boyd  come of age

Boyd's 2020 debut album Dark Matter quickly saw the musician coveted as a rapidly rising essential new voice in British Music, combining the otherworldly vivacity of Bjork’s Vespertine with the pure confidence of James Brown at his funka-fied best. 

Six years later and the polymath has returned, taking a confident leap forward, Drawing from the gospel music he heard growing up in Pentecostal household, Boyd’s sophomore solo project, Songs For Sinners, shared on 30th October 2026, is an expansion of the language of contemporary jazz into something entirely his own. 

Getting your head around a combination of Bjork-meets-Brown may have required a few deep breaths the first time around, so when he begins to discuss how a life spent in London absorbing the sound of grime, jungle and electronica began to intertwine with his Pentecostal upbringing, the musical upbringing that has now blossomed into the sound heard on Songs For Sinners, as the album contains rich jazz chords, bass-heavy soundsystem, electronic pulses and the most heavenly moments of raw, communal singing.

Suddenly the measure of what crosses an original voice into boundary pushing territory becomes incredibly transparent, it is a game of making musical connections that requires playing on an elevated level few will dream of reaching. 

Speaking about the album, Boyd notes: “Songs For Sinners is a sound I've wanted to create since I got into music. Being surrounded by Gospel music my whole life then finding my way through Jazz and sound system culture. I'm extremely proud I've managed to execute the vision I had," 

Man About Town sits down with the visionary responsible for such a stirring fusion of ideas, discussing his musical background, the spirit of collaboration and his evolving songcraft. 

How has the rollout been for this project compared to your debut offering?

The last one came just before the pandemic! So this time is the first time I’ve been able to say what it’s meant to be like. I can feel it all getting busier, the reception has been good and the feedback has been great. 

Speaking of the pandemic, did that mass shutdown delay any of your songs that would end up on Songs For Sinners?

I started working on this album right at the tail-end of the pandemic, so all of these songs have morphed over time. I wasn’t working on it 100% consistently, I did two big sessions and took the music away, taking my time with it until the end. 

People will recognise your Pentecostal upbringing as a gateway into discovering the rich gospel and soul that flows across the album, but where did Moses Boyd learn to fall in love with electronic music?

My start was getting into drums and the production side of things, and that introduced me to a lot of interesting sounds such as Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by OutKast. Particularly the latter side sent me on a journey of; “What’s Jungle?”, all those things he was drawing from across hip-hop. 

Also, just by living in London listening to Pirate Radio, growing up and absorbing what was happening with grime. I found myself drawn to all things Sound System. When I discovered Squarepusher’s music I found my life changed, it felt like somebody finally understood what I was trying to do, or I understood what he was trying to do. 

What do you find the most exciting about combining genres together, crossing into new sound territory?

It was like that on Dark Matter as well. It’s always been my thing to avoid getting comfortable or complacent, I could’ve easily given you some tunes that were just nice, not discrediting anyone doing that! But I am the kind of artist that always has to push myself. Especially with the gospel element, it is a genre that hasn’t had enough pushing so it was a nice challenge for me. 

Do you think gospel as a genre suffers from the average person on the street still having one contained idea about what you can do with the sound?

It just seemed like the perfect opportunity to me, part of the fun. I understand why people can have quite a rigid perception.

Which track on the album took the longest to reach that release-ready stage?

It was “Say Yeah”. I had the hook pretty instantaneously plus the drum beat, effectively the core bones of the song and for ages I was trying to make it something it wasn’t. Once I gave in to what the song actually needed to be, it came together pretty quickly. I was trying to make it a proper song with a verse and chorus and a narrative whereas it just needed to be a mantra and a vibe. 

A huge part of the spirit of the record was a community/collaborative spirit including the kitchen choir, how did that come about?

I didn’t actually intend for that to be the case but I think that is what it needed to be. The first session was done at Church Studios, initially I wanted to record a church service and use that as a master sample library but there were a couple of issues, maybe I didn’t want to impose myself in that environment. 

I thought “I can fake this if I get the musicians” [laughs] it made it easier to control the variables a lot better. The first session involved gospel musicians and one singer just singing through some hymns and once that was done I reached out to my siblings and extended family. I hired an engineer and some recording equipment running the cables from my studio down the stairs into the kitchen and gave everybody some headphones. 

I have some footage that will be online one day. Quite literally in my kitchen just singing along to the first recordings.

What about Songs For Sinners inspired you to pursue previously unexplored ideas such as this?

Once I found myself committed to the concept of the album or what I thought it would be, I followed what felt right. Even with the hymns I knew it would eventually involve getting some singers in. I thought, who better to get than my family? It felt very natural, I couldn't  pay a choir to achieve what they did so naturally. 

I didn’t want it to sound overly polished or professional so having that warmth was important. That was the biggest organisational task of the album but once I had it, I knew it was something special.

Can we expect your siblings and extended family on the live stage anytime soon?

I’d love that but unfortunately they all have their own lives and kids… maybe the practicalities would be a nightmare [laughs]. That’s why I ended up documenting it, hopefully that will be out one day.

Are you the type of musician to view your closing tracks as a snapshot of where you are as a performer right now or as more of a closing statement to a vision?

I am trying to relay something in the final track, sequencing is important and a whole cohesive body of work is important.

There’s some wonderful features across the album including SHANTÉH, Raelle and Amber-Simone, how do you approach picking your collaborators?

Generally it’s from a person’s art and it’s not always as cut and dry as this. I’ve known SHANTÉH for years and I’ve seen her perform tons. I met Amber fairly recently but I’ve been a fan of her music for years. It might just be my producer's ear of knowing when someone can feel the space in the way I envision.

In most cases, if I vibe with someone’s music it says a lot about them and more than likely I’ll vibe with them as a person. With Raelle I was walking my son in the park listening to Spotify on shuffle and as soon as I heard her voice I could just see it perfectly.  I’m quite good at figuring out where somebody can shine, making a bed for someone to shine. 

What is the one abiding message of Songs For Sinners that you are hoping resonates as a lasting takeaway?

If you are intently listening it’s going to ask some questions of you in a soul-searching way. I might not have the answers myself but I’ve put that into the music to inspire that of people. I’m hoping people do the shadow work and ask themselves the questions to generate answers. 

I think of it as a reflective piece considering life about whatever, where they are going, where they have come from. It’s going to be so different for everyone, I don’t want the pressure of having all the answers.