The Very Best premieres "We OK" feat. K'naan, announces U.S. tour

TOUR INCLUDES GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD STOPOVERS WITH  MUMFORD & SONS

NEW ALBUM MTMTMK OUT JULY 17 ON MOSHI MOSHI/COOPERATIVE MUSIC;
FEATURES AMADOU & MARIAM, BAABA MAAL, K’NAAN

 “Jubilant three-chord songs.”—The New York Times

“Ass-shaking music that’s part `80s pop and part American hip-hop, set to the rhythms of
Southern Africa.”—GQ

“Pure Afropop pleasure.”—SPIN

The Very Best is set to tour the U.S. throughout August, please see below for a list of dates. The group’s summer tour will include a series of Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers with Mumford & Sons, Dawes, JEFF The Brotherhood and others. The Stopover dates are curated by Mumford & Sons and in addition to music include local vendors and activities.

Comprised of Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and London-based producer Johan Hugo (Radioclit, We Don’t Belong in Pacha), The Very Best garnered extensive critical praise for both Warm Heart of Africa and their string of online mixtapes with the Los Angeles Times calling them “the best advertisement for blogs since, well, ever” and Pitchfork hailing their last release as “a hopeful template for things to come” and naming Warm Heart of Africa “Best New Music.”

MTMTMK was recorded over five weeks in a makeshift studio in Esau’s hometown of Lilongwe, Malawi. “We had a big step with the second album—wehad to evolve,” Johan notes. “This time we wrote, produced and recorded together simultaneously—the way it should be done. It was a much more collaborative effort.” The album features guest spots by Amadou & Mariam, Baaba Maal and K’naan, among others.

The Very Best first met in a London second-hand shop in 2007 haggling over a bicycle. After Johan and Radioclit partner Etienne Tron invited Esau into their recording studio, the group recorded their first mixtape which quickly went viral and has amassed 850,000 downloads to date. After the release of 2009’s Warm Heart of Africa—which featured guest spots from a number of artists including MIA and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig—Etienne departed Radioclit leaving Johan and Esau to work as a duo on MTMTMK.

THE VERY BEST U.S. TOUR

August 10            Rock N Roll Hotel            Washington, DC*

August 11            101 Lee Street             Bristol, VA†

August 12            Johnny Brenda’s            Philadelphia, PA*

August 13            Irving Plaza            New York, NY*

August 16            Majestic Theatre            Madison, WI*

August 17            Lincoln Hall            Chicago, IL*

August 18            Page Park             Dixon, IL‡

August 20            Fox Theatre            Boulder, CO*

August 22            The Crocodile            Seattle, WA*

August 23            Holocene            Portland, OR*

August 24            Mezzanine            San Francisco, CA*

August 25            Monterey County Fairgrounds            Monterey, CA§

August 27            Echoplex            Los Angeles, CA**

August 28            The Casbah            San Diego, CA*

* with Seye

† with Mumford & Sons, Dawes, JEFF The Brotherhood, Apache Relay, Simone Felice and Haim

‡ with Mumford & Sons + Gogol Bordello, Dawes, Abigail Washburn, Apache Relay and Haim

§ with Mumford & Sons + Gogol Bordello, Apache Relay and Haim

** with MNDR