Since time began, music has long been a tool used to heal the heart, mind and soul, a place for one to submit themselves, an emotional release. For DJ, producer and Circus event/label-head, Yousef, music has underpinned his entire life; throughout a turbulent and often uncertain childhood, music became a life defining outlet. Consolidating a difficult ten-year period from four to fourteen years of age, growing up in his Liverpool family home, 9 Moor Drive, Yousef now presents album project ‘9 Moor Drive’ in full, with final single, ‘Give It To Me’ ready to drop in the coming weeks.
Starting out as a base for a stable family upbringing, ‘9 Moor Drive’ descended into a place of adversity and emotional turbulence for a young Yousef, eventually leading to home eviction. Throughout such complications, Yousef came into contact with a wide variety of people, cultures, sexualities and most importantly music from a young age; an experience that he found both confusing and compelling. Yousef doesn’t reflect on his childhood as a period of only sadness, it was filled with relentless laughter, that allowed vast musical and personal exploration. ‘9 Moor Drive’ would be the final piece in a confusing puzzle, that shaped his personality and gave him his passion and resilience to do things he loves.
Title track ‘9 Moor Drive’ provides a cinematic opening, packing intense emotion and melancholy into an orchestral four minutes; acknowledging the underlying confusion along with hopefulness that permeated much of his childhood. From here on out, Yousef picks up powerful pace introducing his signature 4x4 sounds. With music as a clear vessel for his story, Yousef references pivotal moments in his childhood that tell the story of the album; focusing on his thoughts and feelings during those times. The thick acidic feel of ‘I Don’t Understand’ and ‘Reminders’ represent the aforementioned confusion and turbulence experienced during the breakdown of family life; ‘Riches To Rags’ is a direct signal to financial instability and the eventual home eviction.
Experiencing highs alongside the lows, the warming yet accomplished soulful house elements of ‘Vivienne’, ‘Give It To Me’, ‘One Sunny Sunday’ and The Mother Tongue’ nod to areas of positivity and musical discoveries; where many accompanying musicians and friends join the project. As Yousef acknowledges this, he points significantly to moments of discovery relating to both himself and his family situation in ‘We Don’t Need Yo Love’, ‘The Only Constant Is Change’ and ‘How Could You’. For the duration of the album, Yousef presents his diverse and seasoned knowledge of electronic music. Tracks ‘The Beat’ and ‘Genesis’ represent the width of Yousef’s pallet with two slamming vocal club cuts, in collaboration with Mihalis Safras, ‘ The Voice Of House’ Chuck Roberts and Harry Romero respectively.
Throughout the duration of ‘9 Moor Drive’, Yousef joins the dots between the conflicting emotions felt on his journey through life. Allowing himself to digest and overcome all that happened in that period of his life, this album represents the completion of a cathartic journey. Make no presumptions, Yousef’s fourth studio album ‘9 Moor Drive’ is not a story of hard times and suffering, but rather a celebration of resilience, passion and boundless creativity. Experiences that shaped Yousef into a man who lives every day as if it’s his last, with a composed determination and a smile on his face. Yousef takes pride in knowing he’s forged a positive path for himself and his family, one that he has been so eternally insistent upon.
Track List:
- Yousef - 9 Moor Drive
- Yousef - I Don’t Understand
- Yousef - Riches To Rags
- Yousef - The Only Constant Is Change feat. Isla Will
- Yousef - Reminders feat. Shyam
- Yousef - Vivienne
- Yousef - Give It To Me
- Yousef - The Beat with Mihalis Safras feat. Val
- Yousef - We Don’t Need Yo Love
- Yousef - How Could You Know feat. The Angel
- Yousef - One Sunny Sunday
- Yousef - The Mother Tongue feat. Val
- Yousef - Genesis with Harry Romero feat. Chuck Roberts
Yousef ‘9 Moor Drive’ is out now on Circus Recordings (STREAM HERE)