Today, 25th April 2025, marks a transformative moment for genre-defying powerhouse ESKA. The visionary artist, celebrated for her bold creative spirit and unapologetically personal narratives, has launched her long-awaited album The Ordinary Life of a Magic Woman on vinyl and CD via Earthling Recordings, accompanied by the spellbinding new single “Daddy Long Legs.” It’s a homecoming, a reclamation of narrative, and an unreserved invitation into ESKA’s multifaceted world.
Buy the album HERE
At its core, The Ordinary Life of a Magic Woman is a lyrical and sonic mirror—a vivid portrait of ESKA’s life as a first-generation, middle-aged African British woman in post-everything Southeast London. Creating in the quiet early hours while raising and home-educating her daughter, ESKA sculpted each track with the care of a painter layering a canvas. The album’s rich textures and warm storytelling capture the contradictions of everyday existence, blending the mythical with the mundane in a way that feels both deeply personal and unmistakably universal.
As The Wire Magazine has proclaimed, ESKA’s work is “adventurous Avant Garde fusion that goes as hard as any Miles Davis, Björk, Prince or Tribe Called Quest.” This record doesn’t just push boundaries—it reinvents them. Every track feels meticulously crafted, echoing the resilience and reinvention of an artist who has fearlessly evolved over a decade of creative exploration, from Mercury Prize-nominated beginnings to groundbreaking collaborative ventures.
Standing out on this audacious canvas is the new single “Daddy Long Legs.” A shapeshifting, synth-laced odyssey, the track is carved from the wreckage of a toxic relationship, transforming bitterness into cathartic empowerment. Co-written with Jesse Hackett, “Daddy Long Legs” pulses with a hypnotic loop and celestial harmonies—courtesy of ESKA and Laura Groves—that rise and twist like smoke from a ritual fire. With Soweto Kinch’s spectral saxophone adding the final touch of alchemy, ESKA delivers lines like,
“It felt so good that you would think it was love / It will never see you right”
which serve as both a warning and a celebration of reclaiming self-worth in the aftermath of heartbreak.
Notably, in a nod to the listeners who cherish the tactile and immersive nature of music, ESKA has chosen to release The Ordinary Life of a Magic Woman in physical format first. “Since the release of my debut solo album ten years ago, I’ve woken up to a transformed music industry," she explains. "But there are listeners who crave a deeper experience with an artist’s work—people who want to hold the music, immerse themselves in the design, and engage with the full audio-visual storytelling that accompanies the sound.” This commitment to craftsmanship reinforces the album’s ethos: a full-spectrum, richly layered narrative that speaks directly to those who value art in its most deliberate form.
ESKA’s journey from her Mercury Prize-nominated debut in 2015 to her recent theatrical, cinematic, and collaborative ventures is a testament to her unyielding creative curiosity. Alongside luminaries like Grace Jones, Zero 7, and Tony Allen, and having scored theatre and film projects that stir both the mind and the soul, ESKA continues to redefine what it means to be one of the UK’s most visionary voices. As Gilles Peterson aptly put it, she isn’t just “one of the most important singers in the UK”—she’s a composer, arranger, conceptualist, and actor whose influence resonates far beyond the confines of traditional genres.
Live, the magic of ESKA’s artistry comes alive in a series of intimate shows set to capture the essence of The Ordinary Life of a Magic Woman. Fans can experience her transformative performances at:
Sat 26th April: Magic Woman In-store, Hastings (Dark Circles x Afri-co-lab)
Tues 29th April: Magic Woman In-store, London (Rough Trade East)
Weds 30th April: Magic Woman In-store, Southampton (Vinilo)
Thurs 1st May: Magic Woman In-store, Bristol (Rough Trade)
Mon 5th May: Breakin’ Convention Park Jam, Islington (ESKA solo)
Fri 6th June: SXSW London, Tap Room, London
This intimate tour, alongside her significant releases, promises not only to celebrate the album’s grand narrative but also to connect ESKA’s eclectic sound with audiences in a visceral, unforgettable way.
The Ordinary Life of a Magic Woman is more than an album—it’s a sonic tapestry that blurs boundaries between resilience and reinvention, mythology and the everyday. With “Daddy Long Legs” as a war cry wrapped in funk, fire, and freedom, ESKA invites us to explore how the ordinary can transform into something magic. As the digital release follows on 23rd May, the stage is now set for fans to experience every facet of her ever-opening artistic spell.
Dive into this transformative journey and let ESKA’s adventurous fusion reshape your understanding of what it means to live—and create—a truly extraordinary life.
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