How the frontman of black midi stepped out on his own with a maximalist solo debut that fuses lounge jazz, Latin rhythm, and theatrical storytelling into something gloriously unhinged.
The Short Version
Who Is He?
Geordie Greep is a British singer, guitarist, and songwriter from London, best known as the co-founder and frontman of the acclaimed rock trio black midi. When that band went on hiatus, Greep released his first solo album, The New Sound, in 2024, and it announced him as one of the most singular voices in contemporary music.
Two things make him stand out. First, the ambition: his songs are sprawling, restless, and dense, packed with sudden gear changes, virtuosic playing, and a theatrical instinct that owes as much to cabaret and lounge jazz as it does to prog and punk. Second, the persona: Greep sings in the voice of vain, deluded, often grotesque narrators, turning each track into a small, unsettling piece of theatre.
He is a live-wire performer and a formidable guitarist, and his solo work reframes everything he learned in black midi as a lavish, big-band spectacle. To understand where adventurous rock is heading, you start here.
Lounge jazz, cabaret, and prog theatre, the world Greep's music inhabits.From a London Music School to a Sao Paulo Studio
The Story
Greep's path runs from the noisy, restless energy of black midi to the lush, maximalist theatre of his solo debut, each step widening the palette.
A single spotlight, a curtain, and a cast of unreliable narrators.
2017
black midi forms
Greep met his bandmates while studying in London, and black midi quickly became one of the most talked-about young bands in Britain, prized for their ferocious, improvisatory live shows.
2019–2023
The black midi years
Across three studio albums, the band pushed from angular post-punk into wild, jazz-inflected prog. Greep's writing grew more narrative and theatrical with each record, hinting at where he would go alone.
2024
Going solo
With black midi on hiatus, Greep assembled a large ensemble of collaborators and set out to make the lavish, brass-and-Latin-rhythm record he had been circling for years.
2024
Sessions in Sao Paulo
Part of The New Sound was recorded in Brazil, and its rhythms and textures soak into the album, giving the songs a humid, late-night, big-band swing.
2024
The New Sound arrives
Released in October to widespread acclaim, the debut married lounge jazz, samba, prog, and cabaret into a maximalist song cycle voiced by a gallery of boastful, lonely characters.
Four Songs, One Education
Start Here
Greep's world is dense and theatrical, but these four songs are the fastest way in, from the swaggering single to the tender closer. Watch in order.
01 · The Statement
"Holy, Holy" (2024)
The lead single and the perfect front door: a swaggering, seven-minute epic of Latin rhythm, blaring brass, and a narrator whose bravado curdles into something desperate. The whole album in miniature.
02 · The Opener
"Blues" (2024)
The album's first track and a masterclass in tension: skittering rhythm, jazzy chords, and a lyric that pulls you straight into the mind of one of Greep's boastful, unreliable narrators.
03 · The Sprawl
"Terra" (2024)
A sprawling, shape-shifting centerpiece that shows off the record's Brazilian textures and Greep's love of the long, unpredictable form. Give it room to unfold.
04 · The Turn
"Motorbike" (2024)
A brighter, propulsive ride that shows the melodic, almost pop side of Greep's writing. Proof that under all the theatre there is a serious songcraft at work.
The Landmark Records
The Albums 1 to start with
Greep's solo catalog is brand new and, for now, built around a single towering statement. This is the record that defines him away from black midi, and the only place you need to begin.
2024
The New Sound
The debut and the whole story so far. Recorded partly in Sao Paulo with a large ensemble, it fuses lounge jazz, samba, prog, and cabaret into a lavish song cycle voiced by boastful, lonely narrators. Ambitious, funny, and unlike anything else in 2024.
Two YouTube Music playlists: a First Listen of the songs that pull you in, and a Deep Cuts set of the longer, headphone-reward pieces for when you want to sink in. (Ideally, though, hear The New Sound whole.) Hit the button on either card to play it.
Greep is a solo artist, but The New Sound is a group achievement, built on a large ensemble of players and the big-band arrangements that give the record its lavish sweep.
Brass sections, Latin rhythm players, and a big-band spirit power the record.
black midiThe parent bandGreep co-founded and fronted the celebrated London trio, whose ferocious, jazz-inflected prog is the launchpad for everything on his solo debut
The ensembleLarge session bandRather than a fixed group, Greep assembled a wide cast of musicians for the record, including brass, keys, percussion, and rhythm players who give the songs their big-band scale
The Sao Paulo sessionsRecording & rhythmPart of the album was cut in Brazil, and the local players and Latin rhythms are woven deep into its samba-tinged, late-night feel
Rough TradeLabelThe album was released through the long-running independent label, home to much of the adventurous British guitar music of the last few decades
The Roots of the Sound
Influences
Greep's maximalist art rock draws on a lineage of ambitious, theatrical, and jazz-literate music: the sardonic complexity of prog and studio jazz, and the grand, unsettling drama of orchestral pop. Here is where it comes from.
Avant Rock
Frank Zappa
The patron saint of virtuosic, genre-hopping, satirical rock. Zappa's blend of jazz chops, absurdist humor, and lavish arrangement is all over Greep's writing.
Immaculate, jazz-schooled songcraft peopled by seedy, deluded narrators. The wry character studies and slick chords are a clear touchstone for Greep's persona-driven songs.
The blueprint for ambitious, jarring, jazz-literate rock. Their shifting time signatures and dramatic dynamics echo through both black midi and Greep's solo work.
The grand, baroque crooner who married lush orchestration to dark, literary drama. Walker's theatrical voice and cinematic ambition loom large over Greep's cabaret side.
Greep is a sharp, funny, and disarmingly candid talker about his craft, his characters, and the making of The New Sound. His conversations are worth seeking out.
Interview · Broadcast
Greep on The New Sound
The singer and guitarist talks through the ambition behind his solo debut, from its big-band scale to the cast of unreliable narrators who populate the songs.
Interview · Long Form
The Deeper Conversations
From music-critic sit-downs to podcast appearances, Greep is generous about his influences and his process. Search YouTube for the longer talks and album breakdowns.
Once The New Sound has you, Greep's wider world opens into his parent band and the live shows where his music truly comes alive.
black midi. Greep's celebrated trio and the root system for his solo work, three studio albums of ferocious, ever-mutating prog worth exploring in full.
The live shows. Greep is a formidable performer, and his solo tour reworks the album into an even more theatrical, big-band spectacle. Seek out concert footage.
The full tracklist. Beyond the singles, songs like Through a War, Bongo Season, and the closing If You Are But a Dream reveal the album's emotional depth.
The peers. Greep sits alongside a wave of adventurous young guitar bands. If he clicks, follow the thread outward.
The Way to Listen
Do yourself one favor: put on The New Sound from start to finish, loud, with no distractions. Greep builds these songs as small theatrical worlds, and they reward hearing the album whole, in order, the way it was designed.
