The Bristol collective Ishmael Ensemble is releasing today their new single along with a music video, The Rebuke. And after listening to it, we can confirm this new track will leave no one indifferent. An exceptional sensitivity meets a meaning in which healing plays a fundamental role. This is the first new single since the release of 2021's Visions of Light and deals with the aftermath of lead singer Holly's recovery from breast cancer. Get ready for your feelings to surface in a single that's loaded with nuance.
Just two days ago, on October 19, World Breast Cancer Day was celebrated. A way to give support to these women who suffer from the disease and continue making it visible. And within the diffusion and learning process, music also has a lot to say. The new single released by Ishmael Ensemble is a perfect example of this. Written by band leader Pete Cunningham and lead singer Holysseus Fly, The Rebuke is composed of seven repeating lines that became a great source of comfort and catharsis during the latter's treatment for breast cancer in 2020.

The new release starts with a poem to create a mantra that immerses us in a moving journey with ups and downs, where knowing how to ask for help and not lose hope is essential. “I found great comfort and catharsis writing the words and imagining calling out for help during cancer treatment, but also sharing feelings of anger about the injustice of it,” says Holysseus Fly when asked about the process of creating this song. We must also highlight the music video that comes along with the single, shot earlier this summer by Jack Lilley on a 16mm Bolex camera.