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WHEN it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be and the siren call of music has inevitably returned to Nicky Lipp ten years after a youthful headrush of touring, major label deals and the resultant crash sent him underground on a decade-long voyage of self-discovery. Reinvented and re-energised, he releases his debut single, the brash and beat-laden, One Of These Days off the back of a run of word-of-mouth, sold out, springtime Scottish live dates.

With nothing to lose, Lipp put a live date on sale at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow last March, quickly followed by shows in Edinburgh and Dundee without a note of new music being available to ‘fans’ he wasn’t sure existed. He had a hunch, having tested the waters with a run of innovative Lipp Sync live YouTube streams, connecting directly with anyone ready to listen.

One Of These Days, a stone on the pathway to a mooted full EP release in 2023, is proof of creative and personal recovery. Coming together in part because of sound explorations with producers including new Scottish pioneer Sam Gelliatry, Lipp finds what feels like an effortlessly contemporary flow riven with piano, synths and room-filling, electronic percussion held together at the core by his beloved drums, bass and guitar. Part-confessional, part-sermon, Lipp’s lyrics strike a determined tone, relaying the relief of weights lifted and of time passed.

“I’m a highly ambitious person,” he says, as the single heads out into the world. “But mainly, I want to enjoy this, and I want this to connect with people. I want it to serve a bigger purpose. Success is something you get to determine – so already I feel like a success because I get to do this again. I want to go on this journey with people.” 

Lipps only remaining show of 2022, at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow takes place on Fri 9 December 2022.