Mercury Prize- and BRIT Award-winning Ezra Collective return with “Well Organised” featuring Jamaican singer Lila Iké, the latest single and music video from their forthcoming fourth studio album Here Because of Hope, out September 18 on Partisan Records. Built around an interpolation of Max Romeo’s immortal classic “I Chase The Devil,” the single announces itself with a steel pan melody lifted from a spontaneous recording Femi Koleoso made while visiting London’s Kinetika Bloco Youth Club. That melody became the emotional foundation of the song, eventually blossoming into one of the album’s most transporting moments. Joined by one of Jamaica’s most celebrated voices, they pay tribute to the country’s rich musical legacy while placing it firmly within Ezra Collective’s unmistakable sound.
Recalling his time at the Youth Club, bandleader Femi Koleoso says: “They were playing steel pans and the most beautiful line caught my attention. I recorded it on my phone and lived with it. It had the emotion and beauty that I associate with dancehall, bashment, reggae and so many other beautiful sounds that come from Jamaica. We began to build stories, melodies and rhythms one by one. When it felt like home, we called our sister Lila Iké to furnish the house with love and good vibes.”
Across Here Because of Hope, Ezra Collective trace the movement of Black music across Africa, through the Caribbean and ultimately into Britain, celebrating the sounds, cultures and communities that have shaped generations of music while exploring how hope transforms pain into moments of joy. If lead single “Only Love” ft. Pa Salieu opened the album’s West African movement, “Well Organised” marks the beginning of its Caribbean chapter. Pitchfork recently named the album one of its Most Anticipated Albums of Summer 2026, calling it “the latest in a series of flash points for the unstoppable Ezra Collective” and praising the band’s “riotously fun live show that has made them British national treasures.”
The forthcoming project marks a bold new chapter for Ezra Collective following a historic few years that saw the band become the first jazz act to win the Mercury Prize before going on to win the BRIT Award for Group of the Year. Expansive, emotional and deeply rhythmic, the album follows the journey of Black music across continents while celebrating the communities, traditions and cultures that continue to shape it today.
Over the past decade, Ezra Collective have become one of the defining British bands of their generation, redefining British jazz on stages from Wembley Arena and the Royal Albert Hall to New York’s Blue Note, Glastonbury, Central Park SummerStage and Sydney Opera House. They will bring that world to North America this year, including an August appearance at LA Jazz Festival and November headline dates in San Francisco, Toronto, New York City and Montréal. The North American run follows their biggest global headline tour announcement, spanning Australia, Asia, the United States and Europe before culminating in their largest UK tour to date with two special nights at London’s O2 Academy Brixton in March 2027. Full routing below and here: https://ezracollective.com/pages/live
