Out 31st OCT 2025

‘And so our journey begins…’

Bridging the gap between funk, synth-infused orchestral arrangements, and future jazz, Simon Grey’s long-awaited album Pressing Matters lands with undeniable force.

A thematic deep-dive into the internal battles we all face—the invisible forces that threaten to derail us, and the slow, often tedious work of becoming our best selves—this record is both mirror and rallying cry. Each track evolved into a chapter, unfolding its own part of the story from start to finish.

Pressing Matters is a no-compromise album—seven relentless years in the making, shaped track by track with surgical attention. Every bar was conceived the hard way—no copy and paste, no shortcuts as keyboard player or producer.. It was a chance to find where limits reside and communicate the purest idea without filtering it through practicality or second-guessing.

Built from hundreds of voice memos recorded in a park next to Simon’s studio, this record is the result of an obsessive pursuit of the pure melody, riff or counter melody—the one that arrives uninvited, not the version lounging comfortably in a hotel motel. For Simon the mission was always clear: do your best to change the game—or go home.

The project walks a tightrope between complexity and clarity, with every groove and track tied together by a shared melody and hidden theme. But the balance between conceptual depth and musical sophistication is held to one simple rule: it has to make you move your ass at all times.

It’s a record about persistence, loss, and quiet triumph. About learning. About refusing to accept the clumsy assumptions we make about ourselves—or the ones others try to hand us.

This project could never have been realised alone. Pressing Matters is the result of a truly global collaboration, featuring an incredible lineup of guests including Calvin Rogers, Carlin Muccular, Munir Zakee, Aria Lockett, Tony Momrelle, Marcio Doctor, Paula Champion, Michael League, Marcus Thomas, wTom Walsh and Horn House,Nate Werth, Jason ‘JT’ Thomas, Lil’ John Roberts, Rafael Pereira  and Robin Mullarkey. Sessions took place across Atlanta, London, Hamburg, Dallas, and Los Angeles—each city adding its own flavour to the sound.

As the opening monologue declares: “Be realistic? You be a bitch up in here.” Whether it’s through the bark of a Rhodes, the haunting power of an Oberheim Polyphonic Sythesizer, the punch of a Moog or the chaos of life itself, it seems Pressing Matters more than anything.