Ibiza based singer songwriter Peyton is set to release his new album, ‘Sinners Got Soul Too’, on February 9.
Peyton has for the last 15 years been lending his voice to some of the world’s top house music producers. Described as “the undisputed voice of soulful house”, he became one of clubland’s most popular vocalists with his chart topping hit, ‘A Higher Place’, produced by Eric Kupper for Hed Kandy Records. This saw Peyton land worldwide tours and gain recognition from some of the finest DJs in the music industry.
Peyton however has decided to put the electronic world behind him, and has decided to answer a call from his roots. He spent his youth submerged in American gospel music, with his father a preacher in Virginia, and always found this sound an inspiration. Increasingly finding the top lines and four to the floor beats of modern house taking the focus away from his vocals, Peyton saw it was time for a radical change.
Peyton teamed up with producer James Reynolds, who’s worked with the likes of Emeli Sande, Ellie Goulding, Snoop Dogg, Tinie Tempah, and Years & Years. Together they set out to capture the traditional sounds of Peyton’s youth, while at the same time retaining the contemporary styles of 21st century pop. The result is an album of blues infused soul, representing an artist who has truly matured musically.
Peyton in speaking of the album, says that lyrically it sends out the same message he’s been singing about for years:
“what I really want to achieve with this album is the same thing I have always set out to achieve with the music I make: to raise people’s consciousness, to lift people’s spirits, to move people’s hearts.”
The idea for ‘Sinners Got Soul Too’ came from when Peyton was asked by a friend to write a song that could express his love for his wife on her 50th birthday.
The idea for ‘Sinners Got Soul Too’ formed when Peyton was asked by a friend to write a song that could express his love for his wife on her 50th birthday. Not wanting to feel restricted by the genre constraints of his past, the song ‘The Way I Love You’ resulted in a heartfelt piano-led pop track and, in turn catalysed his desire to create more tracks departing from dance music. ‘All Ways Up’ a second track commissioned by the same friend to become the anthem for his charity foundation, and ‘Be My Enough’ (written by Peyton for his husband on their wedding day), proved to Peyton that he was not just capable of writing songs in differing styles, but he was energised by the joy of it.
Also featured on the album include ‘I’ll Rise’, the empowering poem by Maya Angelou, which had originally been set to music by Ben Harper. Peyton performed this when he auditioned for the X Factor in 2016 – Simon Cowell described him as being “pure class” and “just incredible”. ‘A Higher Place’ conjures up a gospel choir; ‘Jericho’ is a stirring soul number, and ‘When They Go Low’, which takes inspiration from Michelle Obama’s celebrated speech at the National Democratic Convention. This last song is an anti-bullying anthem, and since its release has found Peyton asked to become an ambassador for the UK anti-bullying charity, Bullying UK. It was something he had hoped to do for along time, as his own experiences with bullying shaped his relationship with music greatly in his childhood, which he touches on in this video:
“In my youth I tried to participate in the performing arts at school, but this always resulted in a great deal of bullying. I finally gave up doing anything at my school which was associated with the arts, so the church became a kind of safe haven for me. Nobody bullied you at church for singing, because singing was considered a gift from God that we were encouraged to use!”
‘Sinners Got Soul Too’ is out February 9, and is available to preorder here. You can find Peyton online on his official website, Twitter, and Facebook.
