PREP today unveil release details for their forthcoming new EP ‘Line By Line’, due for release on November 9, 2018. The news arrives alongside the first track to emerge from the EP, ‘Don’t Look Back’, on which the London 4 piece are assisted by Shownu – lead singer of superstar K-Pop band Monsta-X – & So!YoON! of Korean indie band Se So Neon. Following a sold-out Oslo London show & a string of huge shows across Asia earlier this year, PREP will play a string of 11 international dates through November, including their first shows in America. ‘Don’t Look Back’ is streaming here: https://soundcloud.com/prep/
PREP have long had form for assimilating emotional unease into their butter-smooth productions, a facility they double down on across the woozy, after-hours groove of ‘Don’t Look Back’. Buoyed by a suitably silky guest verse from Shownu and So!YoON!’s classy-not-flashy guitar lines, the track taps that gnawing realisation that you’re perhaps not the only person in someone’s life. In the words of PREP frontman Tom Havelock himself; “Jealousy. Looking for hidden meanings. The heavy pause after his name gets mentioned”.
The involvement of Shownu – a card-carrying PREP fan who sought the band out himself wanting to collaborate – solidifies the turbo-charged fanbase the band have built across Asia. PREP’s previous EP ‘Cold Fire’ (released this summer) featured a guest spot from Korean R&B megastar DEAN (alongside Anderson .Paak collaborator Pomo & Kitsuné signing Reva DeVito), who exploded the band’s already sizeable fanbase with a single Instagram story declaring his love. With their West Coast-facing update on smooth soul already resonating with fans of cult genre ‘City Pop’ across Korea and Japan, PREP headline shows in Asia are more often that not packed-to-the-rafters affairs, not least a massive show at the Seoul Jazz Festival over summer.
PREP came into being as the recording alias for 4 Londoners with an already eye-watering list of credits to their name. Co-writer and keyboard player Llywelyn Ap Myrddin – already enjoying success as a classical & opera composer – began working up instrumentals with drummer Guillaume Jambel, who – as GIOM – has headlined Fabric and Privilege, collaborated with Joey Negro and Defected Records and toured with George Fitzgerald. Early demos also piqued the interest of Grammy nominee Dan Radclyffe (noted for his work on recordings by the likes of Drake and AlunaGeorge), and from there forwards, the three began to dedicate serious moonlight hours to the new joint venture. PREP’s line-up was soon completed by singer Havelock (friendly with Radclyffe from co-writing on numerous projects including Riton & Ray BLK) whose effortless falsetto top line was immediately apparent as the perfect foil to the band’s airtight grooves.
LIVE DATES
8th November- Yu Yin Tang Livehouse, Shanghai
9th November- Dusk Dawn Club, Beijing
10th November- iMarket Bluesquare Hall, Seoul
12th November- Livehouse at The Pavilion, Singapore
14th November- Hard Rock Cafe, Jakarta
16th November- Hard Rock Cafe. Balo
17th November- Maho Rasop Festival, Bangkok
19th November- 19 East, Manila
28th November- Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn
2nd December- Chop Shop, Chicago
3rd December- Gold Diggers, Los Angeles