RALLY Festival 2025 Ones to Watch
21 August 2025
Currently Listening to:
“Battle Isn’t Over” croons Nubiya Brandon, main vocalist for Nubiyan Twist, over a smothered drumbeat that hints at the track direction of their new release with reggae stalwart Horseman. That is, assuming you didn’t read the track title – “Battle Isn’t Over – D’n’B version”, released earlier this month.
The Sheffield-based 9-piece have never shied away from a collaboration, and “Battle Isn’t Over – D’n’B version” is looking to be the first in a sequence of more dancefloor-oriented tracks, with a bassline version of “Reach My Soul” released only a few days ago (and by dancefloor-oriented, I mean electronically-influenced tracks. Make no mistake, Nubiyan twist can electrify a dancefloor without electronics all by themselves).
This pivot into a different sound isn’t a new move for Nubiyan Twist – “Battle Isn’t Over – D’n’B version” is the opener from their 2024 album, Find Your Flame, which included some juicy bonus house spins on the track Lights Out from the deluxe version.
“Battle Isn’t Over – D’n’B Version” will sit in the “NT Soundsystem” album, set to be released on 13th June this year. It will boast a collection of remixes from the 2024 album Find Your Flame, Nubiyan Twist’s fourth album to date. As the track titles tease, these will pay tribute to the UK’s global dance music culture, with jungle, dancehall, dub, and UKG versions all represented. If that wasn’t enough, the name itself, ‘NT Soundsystem’, is a homage to the UK’s vibrant Soundsystem culture.
Singles from albums are meant to tease the vibe of the album to come. It is a joy to see some old-skool DnB represented in the line-up.
Whilst not an unsurprising genre to dabble with for Nubiyan Twist, given their embrace of multicultural British sound, this represents a new sonic direction for the band, with a refreshingly old-school feel. Thank Horseman, with his deep, honeyed MCing, fast-paced breaks, and three decades of musical experience in the reggae scene, for this summery tune, paying tribute to the historical roots of DnB in jubilant fashion.
Horseman and Nubiya Brandon’s rich, commanding voices twirl into a fluid duet. There’s the steady softness to Nubiya Brandon, buttered with Horseman’s deliberate, toasted vocals. This overlays the rising and falling energy of the track, accompanied by, you guessed it, classic drum and bass sounds, poaching classic instrumentation like trumpet and keys from the original tune.
It is exciting to listen to this new foray by Nubiyan Twist, bolstered by Horseman, and feels entirely appropriate with the band’s ethos. If this track is anything to go by, NT Soundsystem is set to be a riotous ode to UK dance music. Expect a vibrant, vivid summer season ahead.
