Momoko Gill – No Others
Momoko Gill steps out as a solo artist with her debut album “Momoko”, out February 13th via Strut Records. She’s been behind the scenes for years, drumming and producing for Alabaster DePlume, Coby Sey, Tirzah, and collaborating with Matthew Herbert on this year’s Clay. Now she’s making her own statement.
“No Others” opens with a groove-led bassline and builds into lush, danceable jazz. Twm Dylan handles bass, Benedict Wood plays guitar, and Mei Miyazaki Kirby sits at the piano while Gill drums and sings. Her layered vocal harmonies define the track. She wrote it about borders—literal ones at airports and police stations, but also the borders we carry inside ourselves. One person holds power, the other has to explain who they are and why they deserve dignity. “No Others” pushes against that dynamic.
The second single, “When Palestine Is Free,” brings together a fifty-voice choir from London’s music scene. Shabaka Hutchings, Soweto Kinch, Alabaster DePlume, Rozi Plain, Marysia Osu, and Matthew Herbert all lend their voices to the track. Gill assembled the choir as a statement of solidarity and collective action. The song addresses colonial violence and oppression with urgency and community.
Gill grew up in Japan and the US before settling in London. Self-taught as a drummer, producer, and vocalist, she developed her compositional instincts through extensive touring. The album was recorded at Total Refreshment Centre, mixed by Matthew Herbert, and mastered by Alex Gordon at Abbey Road Studios.
Momoko refuses imitation. Gill pulls from jazz, singer-songwriter intimacy, and experimental electronics without copying any of them. She sculpts her sound through feel and expression instead of tradition.
