Saffron Records’ Ones to Watch

Founded in 2015, Saffron Records is a non-profit organisation that offers a range of tools and skills musicians. The label aims to advance gender equality by creating a safe space for women, non-binary and other minority genders.

Less than 5% of the music tech industry is comprised of women, non-binary or trans people. Saffron offers training in music production, sound engineering and DJ’ing alongside their artist development programme and their record label.

Bristol is never lacking in musical talent and with so much going on, it can be easy for artists, bands and musicians to slip throught the cracks.

So, we asked Saffron Records to give us a heads up on who we should be watching right now!

HANAH

Returning to Saffron Records this Autumn is HANAH with her Colours of Now & Then EP. It is an incredibly intimate project, led by her loop-heavy, and often very experimental, production framework.  This powerful new body of work is fuelled by cathartic expression; it is a love letter to HANAH’s late grandmother.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cja3BUisQGy/

HANAH’s vocal performance feels raw and enveloping throughout, unpacking themes of love and loss, and written alone in the privacy of her bedroom. Dream pop, ethereal indie, ambient and folk blend beautifully, with an appeal to fans ranging from Joy Orbison to OK Williams.

HANAH’s new EP is out later this month and her new single Solo released last week. You can listen on Soundcloud.

SARAHSSON

If you haven’t caught Sarahsson perform live yet, then we suggest you rectify that ASAP. A unique, exhilarating and energising new artist. Sarahsson was part of Saffron’s year-long Springboard program back in 2021, which awarded grants to seven young people in Bristol to help launch their music careers.

Sarahsson used her grant to support the creation and release of her debut album via Illegal Data. She even built her own instrument – a daxaphone!  We see big things in her future.

You can check out Sarahsson’s debut album via Soundcloud.

MARLA KETHER

Chemistry graduate, DJ, producer, Bass guitarist for Obongjayar, and all-around legend! Marla Kether has been working away behind the scenes crafting her debut solo EP for Saffron and we are very excited.

We can’t say too much about it yet, but you can expect to hear Brazilian rhythms, house pumpers, and various vocal collabs in a joyful artistic explosion.

DUTCHIE

Fresh from a release on Jamz Supernova’s Future Bounce label, Dutchie arrived on Saffron Records in September, showcasing a different side to her artistry. Her five-track Satin Planet EP blurs the lines between sound design and songwriting, splicing field recordings with soft, stripped-back vocals and live jazz-tinged instrumentation.

Dutchie, real name Ellie Holland, has been affiliated with Saffron for over four years, leading the organisation’s Sound Engineering course in Bristol. A beautiful full-circle moment with this EP is that it was mastered by Izzy McPhee, a former engineering student of Ellie’s from one of the early Saffron courses. Dutchie’s EP for Saffron has received praise and comparisons to Portishead from BBC Radio 1, Bandcamp editorial, Notion, Clash and more.

You can listen to Dutchie’s music on Soundcloud.

RATIBA AYADI

A deeply spiritual, meditative and profound artist of many talents. Combining production, vocal work, dance and visuals, Ratiba’s statement-piece soundscapes are incredibly impactful.

Ratiba was part of Saffron’s most recent Artist Development group, who created sonic landscapes in response to locations around Bristol, for the sound-architecture platform MSCTY. Exploring themes of silence and noise, multi-worlds and ancestral knowledge, Ratiba is an artist to watch out for.

You can listen to Ratiba on Spotify.

Main photo: courtesy of Saffron Records

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