Guernsey-born artist Mura Masa (Alexander Crossan) seems primed for a new release after 2020’s R.Y.C, and he’s not alone. A new cover of the classic UK garage hit “Baby Cakes” (stylised “bbycakes“ for their version) is the first musical release from Crossan’s next album, with artists PinkPantheress, Shygirl and Lil Uzi Vert featuring alongside him.
The song, which was released in 2004 by 3 of a Kind, reached number one in the UK charts and seemed to define a different era. Crossan explains that “I feel like ‘bbycakes’ is a future facing record. Clashing UK with US, hard drill music with cute UK garage culture …. Most of all it’s a mission statement for the vicarious and playful nature that I think popular music needs to be looking to in an increasingly cynical culture.“
It seems nostalgia has touched a nerve in this case, with him also saying the track represents a time “where all these new ideas were exciting and we were like ‘we’re living in the future’. And now we actually are and it’s really boring.“
And with all the names sat beside him, it seems he’s not alone in thinking this. Some of his collaborators are hardly a surprise choice. PinkPantheress is known for her own unique brand of nostalgia pop, looking back to dance and garage music from the noughties in her acclaimed 2021 mixtape To Hell With It. Crossan even helped out with her track “Just For Me“. As for Shygirl, she collaborated with Crossan last year on a remix of the Lady Gaga track “Sour Candy“.
The cover sees each guest adding their own original verse between each rendition of the chorus, the production being a proudly noughties affair; chiptune-esque cutesiness and vocals lathered in dream-pop after-effects. It’s Crossan’s latest single since last November’s “2gether“, and it’s a good sign of things to come concerning his third LP.
Crossan’s always had good luck with the collaborators he manages to get a hold of, with R.Y.C featuring the likes of Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, Slowthai and Clairo. And his work isn’t being ignored either. Having been nominated for three Grammy Awards (winning Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for his remix of Haim’s “Walking away“), he’s the first artist to be nominated on the same album as both a creative director and musician, this being for his 2017 debut LP Mura Masa.
And it doesn’t stop there, with R.Y.C being awarded five stars by NME. The album was described as “at its most provocative and memorable when its larger-than-life characters and productions become unhinged and combustible with lust for life …. Yet Mura Masa’s anxious contemplation of modern-living – the highs, the lows, the lies we tell ourselves to make it all better – hits just as hard.”
If you’re interested in seeing noughties UK garage make a comeback, this single’s the one for you. And there’s a whole album of the stuff coming soon, so keep your fingers crossed.
