Jeremy Loops has released “Mortal Man”, a brand new single. Universal Music South Africa is also delighted to announce that he has been signed to their label.
More info about Jeremy Loops
Loops is a a juggernaut of South African music, and one of our biggest global exports. He’s sold out a headline show at London’s iconic 5000 capacity O2 Brixton Academy. Today Jeremy shares the first track under his new licensing deal with Universal Music Group South Africa, as part of a unique global partnership with Decca Records in the United Kingdom and Polydor in Germany.
Brought up in a surfing village on the outskirts of Cape Town by his South African father and Swiss-born mother, Loops came to music late. After picking up a guitar for the first time in university, Jeremy’s career has been characterised by constantly breaking through glass ceilings in taking his music to the world.
A decade ago, just before his career exploded at home, Jeremy co-founded the eco-initiative Greenpop, inspired by the waste and excess he’d seen at sea working as a deckhand on super yachts for two years. Organising a fundraising gig in a Cape Town club with some big local bands, he put himself on the bill as the opening act.
From there, things moved fast. A residency at a local Cape Town bar proved so popular that after six weeks, the police shut it down because so many people were spilling into the street. Live agents and festivals came calling. Festivals like Rocking The Daisies and Oppikoppi in their prime were the prelude to selling out the 5000-seater Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town and 7000-seater Durban Botanical Gardens.
The fan fervour and demand moved radio stations to start playing his songs in South Africa, with “Down South”, “Waves”, and “Gold” becoming mega hits. A support slot on tour opening for Twenty One Pilots on their Blurry Face Tour introduced Europe to the burgeoning star.
Jeremy has spent the last six years touring his high-energy live shows, earning him a global army of dedicated fans. Last year, he was invited to a private after party when Ed Sheeran played his first stadium shows in South Africa. The pair hit it off straight away.
“He said I was a better loop artist than he is. Very kind, but not true!” laughs Jeremy. “He suggested we write together. I thought he was joking, but six months later I was in his studio on his Sussex estate and we wrote two absolute bangers, at least one of which will be on the album.”
‘I’m excited to partner with Universal Music in South Africa. We’ve struck a deal where I retain ownership and ultimate control, but they bring in their years of experience, resources, and incredible team to help me take my music further. It’s the dream situation for an independent spirit like me where a major label joins a team and shares our vision.’
Now, as the singer-songwriter prepares for the next phase of his career, he looks to stick to the same fundamentals that got him this far. To quote Loops: “Write great songs and put on great shows. If we do that right, everything follows.”
As well as co-producing some more new songs remotely with Simone Felice (The Lumineers, Bat For Lashes) and Cam Blackwood (Bastille, George Ezra), readying the release of stunning new single ‘Mortal Man’ and streaming acoustic gigs for his global army of fans, the long-time activist recently founded The Big Food Drive, a crowd-funded campaign to send food to some of the poorest communities in South Africa during the coronavirus crisis.
Within a week of it launching in late April, it had raised nearly 10 times the R50,000 target his team had set and was sending out the first of 100 trucks full of food.
More info about “Mortal Man”
The self-produced single, entitled ‘Mortal Man’, is available on major streaming platforms from today. Partly inspired by a friend who struggles with addiction, ‘Mortal Man’ strips Jeremy down to acoustic guitar and signature loop pedal, his seductive voice littering a breezy melody with irresistible sunshine-soaked hooks.
You can stream “Mortal Man” HERE. The single is available on all major streaming platforms.
Watch this space for updates in the Music category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
