Jungle, Bastille, Little Simz, Joy Crookes and Alicai Harley team up for Ted Baker’s Street Party Sessions

Music and musicians have kept us all sane throughout the Covid-19 crisis. But as the world comes back to life, leading fashion house Ted Baker has decided it’s time to celebrate the creativity of the British storytellers behind those tunes.

In the first issue of Rolling Stone UK, Ted Baker has showcased its Street Party Sessions – which feature Bastille, Jungle, Joy Crookes, Little Simz and Alicai Harley performing in settings designed by each of the artists to reflect their ability to constantly fill the world with music and energy.

Rolling Stone UK was given exclusive access to some of the acts during the campaign, with each shining a light on their involvement.

“I love the fact that Ted Baker is incorporating music into their campaign and it’s nice as an artist when you can just be yourself,” said London star Joy Crookes – who is gearing up to release debut album ‘Skin’.

Jungle, meanwhile, say that the campaign offers the perfect chance to showcase their newly released third album – performing new tracks ‘Keep Moving’ and ‘Truth’.

“‘Keep Moving’ is an archetypal Jungle song. A rallying call of what the album is ultimately about,” said Josh Lloyd-Watson.

“I think ‘Truth’ has this energy to it, too, that’s a little bit different. It’s Jungle unleashed, in a way, and is great live. It has a rawness that people think Jungle lacks.”

Meanwhile, London newcomer Alicai Harley praised the campaign for amplifying both her sound and her fanbase.

“It’s been an epic experience, and the doors that are opened from an experience like that are just so dope,” she said.

“It’s what I’ve always dreamt of, being able to do that, even just the way we were able to plan how it was going to look was special. There’s about to be some special times, so stay blessed.”

There was also praise from Bastille for being part of a line-up where women were front and centre.

“We were on a couple of festival bills [previously] that felt uncomfortably male-dominated,” said frontman Dan Smith.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations about it and tried to push for a more equally representative line-up. There are so many incredible female artists out there, so many upcoming female producers and engineers. It still requires work. We do our best to build a team that’s equal and work with collaborators and other artists who aren’t just blokes.”

Describing their performance, Smith added: “Hopefully, for the people that watch the Ted Baker show, that will be a nice little window into the album and what’s to come.”

Watch the performances on https://www.tedbaker.com/uk/edited/street-party-sessions 

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