Music For Robots “It’s about not being afraid, just doing it for yourself, and having a really good time doing it and making sure our audience has a really good time too,” says Dawn Joseph , one half ofthe duo MF Robots(aka Music For Robots) she has formed with Jan Kincaid. Thesoulfully energetic self-titled debut album will be released May 4thvia Membran Music. Jan Kincaid, the former drummer, songwriter, producer, and founder of the Brand New Heavies met Dawn Joseph, the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, when she started singing for the Heavies in 2013. The pair instantly clicked, and within their first week of working together, they were writing songs. By the end of their first month, they already had far too many for the Heavies to realistically put out.Now they’ve formed their own band, MF Robots –their name, a subtle dig at how generic today’s music climate has become –based around Joseph’s effusive vocals, mindful of soul’s golden age but no revival, and Kincaid’s killer rhythms. Touchstones for Joseph are Anita Baker, Gladys Knight and Whitney; their classicism viewed here through a modern lens. “The first time I heard Dawn sing, I was gripped,” says Kincaid. “Her voice just pulled me in.” The duo’s first single, the jubilant The Night Is Calling,sets MF Robot’s manifesto. “We live in miserable times,” says Kincaid. “Artists and musicians have a responsibility to reflect and react to that and that’s probably why we have so many singer-songwriters singing depressing songs at the moment. But someone needs to be providing the pressure valve; the escapism; the much needed party funk so you can step outside for a while, and that’s our role, that’s what we do.” The Night Is Callingencapsulates the thrill and excitement of getting ready to go out nightclubbing in its triumphant mood; it’s a rallying cry for Parliament’s Party People to get dressed up like the cat’s meow and dance the night away.Kincaids’ brother Per played bass on several of the tracks, and other musicians included Naz Adamson (bass), Mark Beaney (guitar) and the horn section is made up of Graeme flowers (trumpet) and Andy Ross (sax). Whatcha Sayin’,the album’s opener, is a future classic in the making, about saying goodbye and moving on, and the message isboth powerful and positive.

Woois a fiery ball of energy, built on a 60s R&B styled stomp of a backing track, the kind you’d find Junior Walker blowing his sax over. “It’s about blowing the lid off, you know, being overcome with the excitement of everything, just going woo...” says Kincaid. Believe in love, is, says Dawn, “our Stevie Wonder moment”. It’s seven minutes of luminescence with seraphic harmonies, thudding bass, reaching-for-the-heavens horns and melodic throbbing synth and atop that sits Dawn’s “I believe” churchy cry. “We’re about authenticity, integrity, personality and heart,” says Joseph. “About bringing fun to people because there is nothing wrong and everything right with feeling good.”