UK garage pioneer MJ Cole has announced a UK tour to honour the 25th anniversary of his debut album, ‘Sincere’. The legendary producer and DJ dropped his the album in 2000, a release that included club classics such as ‘Crazy Love’, ‘Hold On To Me’, and the iconic title track.
Cole will tour the UK, kicking things off at Bristol’s SWX on December 4 before making stops at Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, and then closing out at London’s KOKO on December 11.
Cole made the announcement on Instagram last week, a day after playing a sold-out show at London’s Jazz Café on Thursday, March 27. He wrote: “Last night was absolutely incredible. Thank you so much to everyone that came through (will be saying more about how special it was soon).”
“It’s made me even more excited to announce this… I’ll be heading on the road this December to play my biggest ever live shows, which will include some VERY special guests at each show.”
‘Sincere’ is a highly praised album within the UK dance scene, being one of the first full-length releases to push garage into the mainstream spotlight. Its moving mix of 2-step beats and soulful instrumentation put a more emotive spin on the rising genre. It was a breakthrough for the garage genre, with its title track ‘Sincere’ being one of the first to break into the Top 40. ‘Crazy Love’ peaked at No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
The album managed to get MJ Cole a nomination for the Mercury Prize in 2000, and he also won the “Best Producer” award at the MOBO’s the following year. It was included in the book “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”.
In a retrospective review of the album, Passion Of The Weiss said: “While Cole’s peers like Wookie and Zed Bias had deeper basslines or knottier drum patterns, Cole was the undisputed master of UK Garage at its most sophisticated and seductive. His star making hit single and an undisputed top 5 Garage anthem, “Sincere,” is a microcosm of everything that allowed the genre to take London by storm. ”
Since then, he’s kept his spot as one of garage’s titans, releasing two more albums – ‘Cut To The Chase’ in 2003 and ‘MJ Cole Presents Madrugada’ in 2020, as well as dropping other new music in between. He’s also worked as a producer and remixer with some big names including Amy Winehouse, Dizzee Rascal, Mary J. Blige, Stormzy, Alicia Keys, Katy B and more.
Details for the MJ Cole 2025 tour dates can be found here. A pre-sale will take place at 10am on Wednesday, April 2. General sale tickets will go on sale at 10am on April 4.
