That time Horace Andy played Toronto's Woodbine Park in 2022

Believe it or not, reggae great Horace Andy rocked Toronto's Luminato Fest in 2022. He's playing Mississauga on May 19th! 

Horace Andy joins Leroy Sibbles, Errol Dunkley and Jimmy Reid at Eve in Mississauga on May 19 – get tickets here.

Watch Horace Andy & pals perform in Adrian Sherwood's living room

Here's reggae great Horace Andy sharing some wisdom with "Today Is Right Here" from his Midnight Rocker album.  

One For The Weekend: Horace Andy

Check out "Feverish" from the Midnight Scorchers follow-up to Horace Andy's Midnight Rocker album for On-U Sound. 

Here's the scoop...

On-U Sound are proud to announce a sequel to the hugely successful Midnight Rocker album. This is the ‘sound system’ take on the original sessions, featuring brand new tracks; radical dancehall re-works with guest toasters; and stripped back instrumental version excursions in deep dub reggae style. 

Horace Andy has remained a much-loved figure in a musical career stretching over 50 years, but in recent times has perhaps been more lauded for his work as a guest vocalist for Massive Attack, and touring a live set built on his rich catalogue of 1970s Jamaican hits. The Midnight Rocker album, carefully assembled by producer Adrian Sherwood with Horace over the course of several years, and released earlier in 2022, put the great singer back front and center as a contemporary artist. Released to rave reviews across the board, including the Guardian putting it top of their albums of the year so far, and lauding it as a “late career masterpiece”, the album is now into its fifth pressing and continues to disappear from the racks at record shops across the globe. 

The Midnight Scorchers album takes the story one step further, with dubplate style re-rubs (including microphone contributions from Lone Ranger and Daddy Freddy); songs that didn’t quite fit into the ‘Rockers’ sequence but are allowed a chance to shine on this new set; and fresh mixes that allow the striking arrangements to take rhythmic flight. In the same way as the music has been re-imagined, so has the artwork, with award-winning animator Ruff Mercy (Gorillaz, Earl Sweatshirt, Thom Yorke) putting a streetstyle graffiti spin on things, also in evidence in his psychedelic and colorful video for first single “Feverish”, a massive new version of one of Horace Andy’s Studio One era classics. 

Horace himself comments: “I loved the artwork from the first time I saw it, brilliant brilliant brilliant. Midnight Scorchers is really nice, it’s different to Midnight Rocker and more of a dub album. I’ll be sitting at home listening and full joying it on my Speaker Box dem!’" Producer Adrian Sherwood adds: “I’m very happy with the way 'Scorchers’ has turned out; for me, it’s the perfect accompaniment to Midnight Rocker. It’s not just a dub album - the new mixes, and the new tracks take it out to the sound system arena.”

An essential second half of the ‘Rockers and Scorchers’ story, the album is a must listen for hardcore reggae fans and open-minded music lovers alike. Check out the video for "Feverish" below. 

Horace Andy connects with Adrian Sherwood for Midnight Rocker

Reggae great Horace Andy reprises some of his classics with On-U Sound ace Adrian Sherwood including "This Must Be Hell"

Here's the scoop...
“On-U Sound are very proud to present a truly wonderful album with one of the all time great singer-songwriters in the rich history of Jamaican music, Horace Andy, This is a true gold star performance and I’m very proud of it.” – Adrian Sherwood

Adrian Sherwood has spent a long time realising his dream of making an album with legendary Jamaican vocalist Horace Andy, beloved by reggae fans worldwide for his classic 70s and 80s tracks for labels such as Studio One and Wackies such as "Skylarking" and "Money Money", and boasting proper crossover appeal in modern times via his frequent contributions to Massive Attack, being a mainstay of their touring line-up and singing on all of their studio albums to date. 

Midnight Rocker has been approached in a similar fashion to the late-career quality that Sherwood coaxed out of Lee "Scratch" Perry with the Rainford and Heavy Rain albums, assembling a crack team of players and spending many months perfecting performance, arrangements and mixing. The result is 11 remarkable tracks that sparkle with superb musicianship, carefully crafted production and some truly beautiful vocals from Andy. 

As well as revisiting some Horace Andy classics like "Mr Bassie", "Materialist" and "This Must Be Hell" with fresh production, the album also features brand new material penned by LSK, Jeb Loy Nichols, George Oban and Adrian Sherwood. The pair have also versioned a much-loved early single by the group that Andy is most associated with, Massive Attack, although Shara Nelson took the lead on the original “Safe From Harm” and here Horace steps up to the mic. Interestingly, Shara Nelson recorded with Adrian Sherwood several years before the inception of Massive Attack, and 1983’s lost street-soul classic “Aiming At Your Heart” could arguably be cited as a blueprint for the later group’s sound. 

The backing band on this album features the cream of On-U Sound players, including contributions from Gaudi, Skip McDonald, George Oban, Crucial Tony, the Ital Horns, and the late, great Style Scott.

Like Rainford, Midnight Rocker will be followed by a full companion LP of dub versions, which is not completed yet but will hopefully come out later on in 2022. 

Pre-order Horace Andy's Midnight Rocker album (out April 8th on red vinyl, black vinyl and CD) right here. Check out the new version of "This Must Be Hell" and the classic 1979 version produced by David "Tapper Zukie" Sinclair after the track listing below. 

More about Horace Andy

Horace Andy was born as Horace Hinds on February 19, 1951 in Kingston, Jamaica. Andy, also known as "Sleepy," has become an enduring voice on the Jamaican music scene. His signature early 1970s hit, "Skylarking," defined his ability to deliver songs of black determination and social commentary, but he could equally deliver songs of love. 

Andy worked with producer George "Phil" Pratt on his first single, "This Is a Black Man's Country," in 1967. His cousin, Justin Hinds, was starting to enjoy some success at that time, but Andy would not gain notice until working with noted Jamaican producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd in 1970. "Got To Be Sure” became his first release for Studio One, Dodd's studio. Dodd gave him the stage name of Horace Andy - a reference to popular singer Bob Andy. With Dodd, Andy went on to record "See A Man's Face," the well-received "Mr. Bassie" and the breakthrough hit "Skylarking," among other songs. "Skylarking," which encouraged wayward youth to clean up their act, was released as a single and topped the Jamaican record charts, becoming a signature tune for Andy.

Although American R&B singers were Andy's early influences, he also comments: “I wanted to be like Jimi Hendrix, to play the guitar like him! I didn't see myself as having a great voice. I didn't know I'd be a great singer."

Andy has consistently recorded and performed around the world, and has remained relevant in reggae subgenres such as roots reggae, rock steady, lover's rock and dancehall, recording with some of the all time great reggae producers including Bunny “Striker” Lee, Niney Holness, Tapper Zukie, Lloyd Barnes and Steely & Clevie.

In 1990, he was discovered by the Bristol based trip-hop band Massive Attack, who cited Andy's work as a major influence. He recorded the song "One Love" for their 1991 debut album ‘Blue Lines’, and the band's popularity exposed Andy to a younger generation of fans, many of whom continue to seek out his earlier work. After Massive Attack launched their own label, Melankolic, they released Skylarking, a compilation of Andy's career hits. Andy is the only singer of Massive Attack's rotating group of guest artists to appear on each one of the band's albums. He also appeared on the British group Dub Pistols' 2001 album ‘Six Million Ways to Live’, and on the Easy Star All-Stars' 2006 Radiohead tribute ‘Radiodread’. 

Horace Andy – Midnight Rocker

01. This Must Be Hell

02. Easy Money

03. Safe From Harm

04. Watch Over Them

05. Materialist

06. Today Is Right Here

07. Try Love

08. Rock To Sleep

09. Careful

10. Mr Bassie