Set to release their mini album Cordi Elba on Friday 14 January, today Lime Cordiale and Idris Elba reveal their rambunctious new single What's Not To Like via Chugg Music and 7Wallace Music.. Starring Idris’s velvety vocals and loaded with boisterous riffs and rollicking drums, What’s Not To Like follows on from their jaunty debut single Apple Crumble. “I had this song title written down in my notes for a lyric. It was a concept we’d been toying with for a while but Idris related to it and wrote these verses in the room with us. He told us about an industry party the night before, about people looking over his shoulder searching for someone more important to talk to until they worked out they WERE talking to someone important, “says Oli of the song.
“I had this song title written down in my notes for a lyric. It was a concept we’d been toying with for a while but Idris related to it and wrote these verses in the room with us. He told us about an industry party the night before, about people looking over his shoulder searching for someone more important to talk to until they worked out they WERE talking to someone important, “says Oli of the song.
“That’s where the song started but we’re really just taking the piss out of ourselves, something that we all loved doing in these studio sessions. It’s that Aussie/English connection,” adds Louis.
“It’s a song about finding who you really are and not chasing who you think people want you to be. It is a driver's seat singer classic, “ muses Idris of What’s Not To Like.
Lime Cordiale and Idris Elba’s partnership began when Lime Cordiale asked if Idris wanted to guest on a new version of Lime Cordiale’s Unnecessary Things – a song that first surfaced on the Relapse reissue of their 2020 No.1 album 14 Steps To A Better You. Idris did his research and was instantly sold. “I listened to them on Spotify, fell in love with them very quickly,” he says.
The Luther, The Wire, Thor, The Suicide Squad, and Mandela star didn’t know it, but he was already in Lime Cordiale’s orbit – the duo regularly blasted Idris’ 2019 hit Boasty backstage before each show. Once the new version of Unnecessary Things was finished, this new partnership hit a creative streak and they kept on making more songs with Lime Cordiale’s longtime producer/co-writer David K Haddad.
On Boasty, Idris raps that he doesn’t need a ghostwriter. Indeed, Cordi Elba is a genuine creative collaboration with Oli, Louis, and Dave. “We wrote everything together,” Oli says. “We were all writing lyrics – it wasn't our music or his music, it was smack bang down the middle with every lyric.”
“I wanted to collaborate,” Idris adds. “We agreed about the vibe and the song was there. They were really open to ideas; it was an opportunity for me to write songs I normally wouldn’t write. Ultimately, this is a step into a new universe musically for me.”
A DJ since his teens – and long before he found success as an actor, Idris not only continues to spin from Coachella to Ibiza, he is also a musician, rapper, and producer. Cordi Elba contains a first: he unveils his singing voice, encouraged by Oli and Louis “They filled me with a lot of confidence,” Idris admits. “I come from a DJ background, have always rapped, but never considered myself a singer. They encouraged me to put vocals down, I didn’t expect to be singing.”
Not only does Cordi Elba contain some of the finest musical work of both parties, it is unlikely to be a one-off alliance. There are tentative plans for Idris to join Lime Cordiale on a UK tour in early 2022. “I’d be honoured to help their exposure in the UK,” Idris says. “I am hoping to jump on stage with them when they tour.”
As Lime Cordiale starts work on their third album, Cordi Elba has changed them forever. “We’ve been catapulted into new territory with Idris and this has inevitably influenced the future of Lime Cordiale,” Oli says. “He gave us permission to break out of our genre and it’s going to be interesting where this takes us with new music.
Cordi Elba is released on January 14 via Chugg Music + 7Wallace Music.
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