The song carries a reflective, almost hypnotic energy, with minimal yet powerful production that allows the lyrics to take centre stage. Crookes’ warm, expressive vocals glide over gentle instrumentals, while Kano’s verse adds a raw, thoughtful layer to the track. The combination of her rich, vintage-inspired sound and his precise storytelling makes for a compelling contrast, capturing the feeling of two people trying to figure each other out. The chemistry between the two artists is effortless, making ‘Mathematics’ feel like a natural and well-crafted collaboration. 

The accompanying music video perfectly compliments the song’s themes, using stripped-back visuals to highlight the emotion in the lyrics. Set in moody, intimate location of a flat, the video follows a couple as they navigate the push-and-pull of their relationship. There’s a strong sense of nostalgia in the visuals, with warm lighting, slow-motion shots, and subtle details that make each frame feel like a snapshot of a fleeting moment ultimately ending with Crookes’ character in tears. The way the video captures distance and closeness between the two characters mirrors the song’s message, how love is never as simple as it seems. 

Joy Crookes has been making waves in the music industry since she first emerged in 2016 with her debut single ‘New Manhattan’. Her music blends elements of soul, R&B, and jazz, her breakthrough came in 2021 with her debut album ‘Skin’, which reached the UK Top 5 and earned her a BRIT Award nomination. Known for her deeply personal songwriting and distinctively rich voice, Crookes has built a reputation for music that feels both timeless and socially aware. 

Kano, on the other hand, has been a key figure in the UK rap and grime scene for over two decades. With classic albums like ‘Home Sweet Home’ and ‘Made in the Manor’, he’s known for his sharp lyricism and ability to tell powerful, introspective stories through his music. His addition to ‘Mathematics’ brings an extra layer of depth, making the song feel like a conversation between two people navigating love and communication in their own way. 

Looking ahead, 2025 is shaping up to be a big year for Crookes. ‘Mathematics’ follows her recent collaboration with Vince Staples on ‘Pass The Salt’, and with her second studio album in the works, fans can expect more music soon. As she continues to push creative boundaries, this latest release proves she’s an artist who’s only getting started. 

The duo were accompanied by both horn and woodwind sections, alongside Holland on the piano. Their arrangement builds slowly, with Sheeran gently strumming away alongside a tenderly played piano line by Holland, singing the familiar opening lines: “On Raglan Road on an autumn day I saw her first and knew, that her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue”.  Gradually, the sound of the backing band creeps in, introducing a longing Gaelic melody as Crookes begins to sing: “On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge, of the deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passion’s pledge”.

Around the two-minute mark, the song begins to take flight, with the rest of the backing band joining in. Crookes and Sheeran hum along, giving the spotlight to the jubilant melody played by the band, before rounding out the song with the final verse.

In other news regarding Ed Sheeran, the singer-songwriter had a very busy 2021, releasing his fifth studio album = on the 29^th of October, with the album having now spent two weeks total at the number one spot within the UK album charts. You can read more about this here. Moreover, Sheeran collaborated with legendary British singer-songwriter Elton John on a Christmas tune entitled “Merry Christmas”.

Joy Crookes has also had a big year, releasing her first album Skin on the 15^th of October following some successful singles, such as “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” which served as the lead single from the record, title track “Skin”, “When You Were Mine” and “Trouble”.

The singer-songwriter’s debut was praised highly, with NME saying in a four-star review of the album: “ ‘Skin’ rises from the most intimate pockets of Crookes’s life: the emotional turmoil around growing up, heartbreak, forgiveness, and relationships that don’t offer the sanctuary they promise. But here, she allows herself to revel in her own possibility of healing, singing directly about her past and who she wants to become, letting her formidable voice guide the way: cool, curious, full of momentum.”

Skin is available via all streaming services, and physical copies of the album can be purchased here.

here’s the incred line-up for #BRITsWeek 2022 presented by @MastercardUK for @WarChildUK: @AnneMarie@bastille@joycrookes@maisiehpeters@BeckyHill@mimiwebb@CraigDavid@Damonalbarn

For info on the shows head to: https://t.co/km2Rwkqqb9 pic.twitter.com/LIgMuRPs8p

— BRIT Awards (@BRITs) December 14, 2021

The concert series will kick start with a performance by English singer-songwriter Anne-Marie. The 30-year-old artist will take the stage at King Cross’ Lafayette on 1st February 2021. The Essex born singer is no stranger to the Brits, she was nominated for four awards including Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2019 awards. After her set for BRITs week, Anne-Marie is set to hit the road for her Dysfunctional Tour in May 2022.

Music fans will then get the chance to see Bastille when they perform at Hackney’s Earth Theatre on 2nd February 2022. The English pop band are also part of the BRIT awards alumni, the group won Best New Artist in 2013 and were nominated for three more awards. The band were also in the running for British Group, Best British Album for Bad Blood and Song Of The Year for their hit “Pompeii”.

It has been announced that former Blur frontman Damon Albarn will conclude the series on 20th February 2022 with a performance at The Troxy. The artist will treat ticketholders to live renditions of classics as well as tracks from his recently released album The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows. The 53-year-old singer released his second solo studio album on 12th November 2021 via Transgressive Records.

Head of Live at War Child, Ben Anderson has provided the following statement, “We are delighted to be working with BPI and AEG once again on another BRITs Week series. Whilst there was a temporary pause on all things live music over the past 12 months or so, there was no pause to the challenges facing children who live in conflict zones around the world. With conflict rates on the rise, and more children at risk, our work as a charity is never more needed. “The whole music team and the wider War Child teams are very excited to be working on a fantastic series of gigs. There are some real treats for fans to see their favourite artists in some venues across the capital that they wouldn’t normally play, and we look forward to not only the gigs but also to raising much needed funds and awareness of the fantastic work that War Child do.”

Other acts have also been announced to take part in the annual concert series. It has been revealed that Joy Crookes will perform on 2nd February 2022, the English singer is set to perform at Omeara. The 23-year-old singer was shortlisted for the Rising Star Award at last year’s ceremony. Fellow singer-songwriter Maisie Peters is billed to play the next day at the same venue.

British singer-songwriter Becky Hill has also been announced to perform in the series. The 27-year-old singer will take the stage at The Lafayette on 3rd February 2022. Fans will also be able to catch Mimi Webb at London Bridge’s Omeara on 5th February 2022. The 21-year-old singer will be performing tracks from her recently released EP Seven Shades of Heartbreak, the release dropped on 22nd October 2021 and reached number nine within the UK charts. Three days before Albarn’s closing gig, Craig David presents TS5 will take place at Under The Bridge on 17th February 2022. TS5 began as an exclusive pre-party by David but has now developed into a club night full of anthems and hits.

Mastercard cardholders have access to an exclusive pre-sale for all shows, the pre-sale began today at 10 am. Fans can also win tickets via the prize draw, to enter the competition fans must make a £5 donation via the Brits Week War Child website.

On her personal YouTube channel with thousands of subscribers, the singer-songwriter shared an intimate performance of the song to support and inspire people during the lockdown which has been implemented to protect from the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides this, Crookes is using her platform to encourage her followers to stay at home in order to slow the spread of the virus and save lives. The video for ‘Two Nights’ has already reached 12,000 views, while the first instalment ‘Anyone But Me’, has over 400,000.

As the singer moves to help out anyone who is struggling in this difficult time, she has also created new series named after the song ‘Anyone But Me’, in which Crookes talks to friends and family members about mental health. “Just a conversation” between friends, the episodes allow guests to discuss freely and openly, with the ultimate goal to raise awareness for mental health and to provide healing.

Besides mental health, Crookes has been speaking out about the Black Lives Matter movement through social media, using her platform to educate fans and bring change to the world. Sharing screenshots of tweets from Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khanm regarding racism and her own personal message, Joy Crookes wrote to fans: “My Black brothers and sisters, I am sorry that the system continues to fail you. I would not be the artist I am without your music, your art and the fight you have endured every single day to pave the path for the rest of ethnic minorities to live in freedom. “

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My Black brothers and sisters, I am sorry that the system continues to fail you. I would not be the artist I am without your music, your art and the fight you have endured every single day to pave the path for the rest of ethnic minorities to live in freedom. As for white and non Black POC as @thebrownhijabi has put so well, we NEED to do more. South Asians, it’s time to address the anti blackness in our community now more than ever. If the conversations are painful, HAVE THEM! Disrupt. Correct. Reflect. Interrogate yourself and your family – as @donfeeble said today: “none of us will ever do ‘enough’ – enough implies finite capability, it says “my work stops here”. Why limit yourself? What you’re capable of doing is ever evolving.” Please donate, support Black owned business, continue questioning yourself, protest and practice what you preach. If you are taking this stance online – carry it offline. Link in bio for a google doc of organisations to familiarise yourself with and where to donate. Melanin is not your enemy. Ever. Black lives matter, now and forever

A post shared by Joy Crookes (@joycrookes) on Jun 2, 2020 at 12:20pm PDT

The 21-year-old has been out in London joining protests this week, as well as sharing links and information on her Instagram story showing how others can help, and continue to help the black community.

Growing up in South London, Joy Crookes spent her teen years playing in bands with friends and learning guitar. When she posted videos of her music to YouTube, she caught the attention of the music industry and released her debut single in 2016 at the age of 18. Since then, she has put out three EPs and many more singles, performing at numerous festivals. This year, Crookes announced that she would be supporting Harry Styles in ‘Love On Tour’, which has now unfortunately been postponed due to coronavirus concerns. Information on this can be found on his website.

Anyone But Me out now https://t.co/g5NayVBR1s pic.twitter.com/sd6CDGGLsM

— Joy Crookes (@joycrookes) April 8, 2020

The song explores mental health and learning how to share emotions with other people. In a statement, Crookes said “I’ve suffered from mental health issues since I was young.” The singer explained “Being able to have these important conversations with my friends and then my family has been challenging and I guess that’s why I always turned to music,” and finished by saying that she hopes to continue breaking down boundaries with her songs.

Annie Mac played ‘Anyone But Me’ on her BBC Radio 1 show as the ‘Hottest Record’ on Wednesday evening. The single is the first fans have heard from Crookes since she attended the Brits in February. Nominated for the Rising Star Award, the London artist was excited to be nominated alongside Celeste, but said that “You take one look at that list to go ‘there’s not enough women on it’.”

Tonight I’m Annie Mac’s Hottest record and I can be yours too
Tune in at 7.30pm on BBC Radio 1 to hear my lil voice #isolated pic.twitter.com/fvpLbBoqhK

— Joy Crookes (@joycrookes) April 8, 2020

The singer-songwriter has never released a full length studio album, but told the BBC that she was planning to in May 2020 with her record label Insanity. ‘Anyone But Me’ is just the first hint at what we can expect from this precocious artist. Fans are incredibly excited to hear more news of the album from the singer-songwriter.

Growing up in South London, Joy Crookes spent her teen years playing in bands with friends and learning guitar. When she posted videos of her music to YouTube, she caught the attention of the music industry and released her debut single in 2016 at the age of 18. Since then, she has put out three EPs and many more singles, performing at numerous festivals.

This year, Crookes announced that she would be supporting Harry Styles in ‘Love On Tour’, which has now unfortunately been postponed due to coronavirus concerns. Information on this can be found on his website. Additionally, the singer is currently on the line-up for a few shows this summer, though this may change depending on the outcome of the Covid-19 lock-down. In the meantime, Crookes has entertained fans via Instagram and Twitter, posting covers and running livestreams to chat with fans.

Crookes’ post asked fans to send her a WhatsApp message with the words ‘Anyone But Me’ and she might send them something. Of course, she was overrun with messages, receiving 7,000 in total. This unfortunately meant that the singer couldn’t reply to everyone. She updated fans yesterday with a post reading “The powers that be raised flags about data protection, this means I can’t text any of you back, I was really looking forward to that and I’m sorry.”

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so, my whatsapp got 7000 messages when I gave my number away on instagram yesterday. It actually wasn’t an april fools (I was bored). This is way more than what i imagined which is sick – you’re all amazing. However, the powers that be raised flags about data protection, this means I can’t text any of you back, I was really looking forward to that and i’m sorry. P.S. Anyone But Me is maybe a hint to something. LOVE CROOKSIE

A post shared by Joy Crookes (@joycrookes) on Apr 2, 2020 at 12:31pm PDT

Joy Crookes has never released a full length studio album, but told the BBC that she was planning to in May 2020 with her record label Insanity. It’s likely that ‘Anyone But Me’ is either the name of the lead single or the album title. Fans are incredibly excited to hear news of new music from the singer-songwriter.

Crookes had planned to perform at multiple shows and festivals this year, although plans have already been changed due to the Covid-19 outbreak. She was meant to be supporting Harry Styles in his 2020 tour, but this as been postponed. At the moment, however, Crookes still has plenty of festival dates planned for summer, including Lovebox, Latitude, and Reading & Leeds. Check out her website for more information.

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Well, look at that: the Lock In line up in all its glory. And we’re not even finished there: more acts will be announced soon! Get the lowdown on the Lock In from the link in our bio. And we’ll see you tomorrow on Insta Live. #CALMLockIn

A post shared by CALM (@calmzone) on Apr 2, 2020 at 8:44am PDT

Despite the lack of live performances, Crookes has been running live streams via Instagram will take part  in a ‘Friday Night Lock-In’ held by CALM. The charity moves to unite and uplift people during this difficult period. The lock-in will be held tonight, Friday 3rd April, on Instagram, and will include appearances from Years & Years, Oh Wonder, and Frank Turner, as well as a DJ segment, pub quiz, and so much more. The event will run from 5pm-12am BST on CALM’s Instagram page.

Joy Crookes has released three EPs since 2017 and was nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2020 Brit Awards. At the age of 21, she writes catchy songs with powerful lyrics about relationships, culture, and modern society. Watch out for her debut album, to be released in 2020.

Soul singer @Celeste has won the BBC #SoundOf2020! https://t.co/gXSQCiY4sy pic.twitter.com/HJJQKJQ8Ak

— BBC Entertainment (@BBCNewsEnts) January 9, 2020

Celeste Waite is a singer/songwriter who was born in Los Angeles but raised in Brighton. Her musical inspiration is due to jazz and soul legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Otis Redding, Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin.

“Sirens” is her first single written when she was only 17 years old. The song is dedicated to her Jamaican father who was taken away by cancer. Prior to Celeste’s major breakthrough with Polydor Records, she was signed by Lily Allen to Bank Holiday Records and released the first EP titled Milk & Honey.

Joined with the previous winners like Adele, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding, HAIM, and Sigrid, Celeste is now ready for the spotlight in the music scene. She is praised for her sharp songwriting skills, killer vocal, and timeless soul sound. “Strange” has become her most well-known song so far, and recently the soul songstress just shared her new single “Stop This Flame”.

Alongside Celeste, Easy Life—a five-piece alternative band from Leicester—took the second place of the list. The quintet has risen up to fame with their hard-to-pin-down genres mixed between hip-hop, R&B, jazz, psychedelic electronica, and pop altogether. “Pockets” is the band’s very first single released back in 2017 and has since become their most well-known song to date. Now, Easy Life is signed to Island Records.

Placed at the third on the list is Dominic Richard Harrison, or professionally known as Yungblud. He is a 20-year-old singer/songwriter from Doncaster who rose to fame because of his frank and in-your-face kind of music that mainly takes jabs at social issues such as gun control (“Machine Gun“) and parent generations (“parents”). His music is bending between hip-hop beats and pop melodies.

Joy Crookes comes at the fourth winner of the poll. Crookes is a 21-year-old singer/songwriter from London whose music can be described as neo soul, R&B, and raggae with the likes of Lily Allen and Jorja Smith. Gearing up for the release of her debut album this year, the singer has released three EPs so far, with Reminiscence and Perception dropped earlier in 2019.

At the fifth place is Inhaler, an emerging rock band from Dublin. The band consists of four members, one of which is Elijah Hewson, the very son of U2’s lead singer Bono. “Ice Cream Sundae” is their most recent single that receives a lot of attention from the media and music critics.

Back in November 2019, Celeste was also announced as the nominee of the Brit Rising Star Award. If she wins this award, the singer will get to perform at the Brit Awards which will take place on February 18.

As the 40th Brit Awards are taking shape, the Brit Rising Star Awards, previously known as the Critics’ Choice Award, is the first category announced. This year, the shortlist comprises all-female nominees: singer/songwriter beabadoobee, soul singer Celeste and jazz artist Joy Crookes.

Bea Kristi, who goes by the stage name beabadoodee, is a 19-year-old indie sensation. Born in the Philippines, the singer/songwriter was raised in London, growing up writing music in her bedroom. beabadoodee’s hype is increasing thanks to her indie-rock-influenced music, such as “If You Want To” and “She Plays Bass”, both of which have won many indie fans, leading her to receive such prestigious achievement of being nominated.

Celeste is a rising soul star with a killer voice and sharp, poetic lyricism. This British-Jamaican songstress was born in Los Angeles but then moved to Brighton that later became her permanent home. Celeste has received acclaim from music fans and critics because of her magnificent soulful voice and the way she incredibly writes her songs. Despite being such a newbie in the industry, the 24-year-old singer has gained a wide range of achievements by appearing in many huge music festivals and embarking on sold-out shows across Europe.

Joy Crookes is another artist on the list who scores much attention from her music. Originally from South London, Crookes grew up writing songs since the age of 12. Her music is majorly influenced by Lily Allen, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Amy Winehouse. Back in last summer, the 20-year-old singer brought her trip-hop music to perform in front of a huge crowd at Glastonbury, marking one of her biggest accomplishments to date.

Last year, Sam Fender was the winner of this award, making his debut album Hypersonic Missiles skyrocket to the summit of the UK Albums Chart. Other past winners of the prize include Sam Smith, Adele, Ellie Goulding, and Jorja Smith. To honour such success, whoever wins the award this year will get to perform at the prestigious Brit Awards ceremony that takes place on February 18.