Since the turn of the decade, British songstress Aluna Francis has established herself as a solo artist to be reckoned with. Following the split of her former duo AlunaGeorge, she turned her focus to other endeavors, including welcoming a daughter in 2019 and dropping her debut solo LP Renaissance in 2020.
Today, Aluna is back with her sophomore album MYCELiUM. It continues the mission of Renaissance by inviting listeners to the dance floor, this time without the obstacle of pandemic restrictions stopping them from moving until they sweat. Along the way, she teams up with notable high-energy collaborators like Pabllo Vittar, Jayda G, Preditah, and MNEK to bring her vision of a unique musical environment to life.
“I came across mycelium and the way that it works as an interconnected cell network sharing information, energy, [and] nutrients to create the organic ecosystem around us,” she told Billboard of the project’s title and inspiration. “Music is an ecosystem too, and I wanted to signify the return of core values that created this genre and would have kept it healthy rather than turning into the monoculture that it has become—devoid of soul, diversity, and respect.”
The album, then, represents a culmination of years of work Aluna has taken on to increase Black and LGBTQ+ representation and community in dance music, both behind the decks and in crowds. When “real integrity of a desire for change” began to fade after interest in George Floyd’s murder waned, she knew she had to act since seemingly no one else in positions of power in the industry will. “There is a widespread, complete lack of care in the live show business, not just for Black people, but for the festival-goers in general,” she laments.
These efforts have helped Aluna place her music in the world, and for fans to see that fully painted picture. “Adding this advocacy [and] activism aspect to my work puts everything in a different context for me,” she confessed to Shondaland. “In the past, it was almost like I was thrown into a sea of activity I had no control over, and any discomfort I had psychologically was just sort of down to me to sort out internally how to function within that. And now as I’m doing that, I know if I’m the only Black girl there, through my activism, I’m making changes for some point in the future for someone else who will stand in my shoes one day.”
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