cuttings
Credits, coverage and press assets — everything in one place.
Misti Blu
chart
dance #1
on the record
nominee
chaka khan on the record
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what they said
One of the most exciting bands to emerge from the British dance scene since Massive Attack.BBC
Just about the coolest thing to come out of Nottingham.Pete Tong
A groundbreaking fusion of Balearic beats, old school vibes and masterful use of samples.Press, early 2000s
coverage
- LeftLion · 11 April 2024 · Rachel Imms Back with a Boom: The Return of Nottingham Artists amillionsons Read ↗
- Music-News · 5 June 2024 Taka Boom, Chaka Khan and Mark Stevens announce family single ‘Misti Blu Two’ Read ↗
- BBC Music The First One’s Free — BBC Review Read ↗
- Official Charts Company Full UK chart history View ↗
the record so far
- 2000First release, ams001 — a 12″ white label, picked up straight away by Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 1.
- 2002Misti Blu — international #1 and UK Top 40. Built on Dorothy Moore’s 1976 reading of Wilma Burgess’s Misty Blue, it was the last record Pete Tong personally signed to FFRR. The video was directed by Mat Kirkby — later an Academy Award winner — which took second place at the Soho Rushes Short Film Festival.
- 2003Nominated for Electronic Music Video of the Year at the MVPA Awards. Their remix of Weekend Players’ I’ll Be There spent six weeks at #1 on the Billboard US Hot Dance Music / Club Play chart.
- AlsoTangoed with Ben Onono; sampled Muhammad Ali on Simpsons; lain on the Top of the Pops cutting room floor; headlined Ibiza sunsets.
- 2000sPrimetime plays from Steve Lamacq and Mary Anne Hobbs, features in Mixmag, DMC World and MUZIK, a Top of the Pops appearance and BBC Radio 1 Weekend in Ibiza at Café del Mar.
- 2012The band steps away. Life, as they put it, got in the way.
- 2022Back after a decade away. Since returning: the original LP plus five new singles, each with remix packages.
- 2023Global digital remaster of the rare debut LP The First One’s Free.
- 2024Misti Blu Two — released 24 May on Ill Kid Records, twenty years on from the original. Taka Boom leads, with her sister Chaka Khan and their brother Mark Stevens on backing vocals. Composed by Bob Montgomery, arranged by the band. A suite of ten remixes comes with it, including a Chicago house mix from Blakkat (Mark Bell, formerly of M People) and a soulful house mix from Schmoov. A 2025 GRAMMY contender, supported by Paul Oakenfold and Timo Maas.
- NextFly Little Bird with Zoë Johnston — of Above & Beyond, Faithless and Bent — planned for late 2026. A Nottingham collaboration a long time in the making.
elsewhere
short bio
amillionsons are Andy Kulesza, Karl Robin Junga and Matt Shelton, the Nottingham trio behind a distinctive mix of Balearic warmth, trip-hop depth and inventive sample craft. First championed by BBC Radio 1 and Pete Tong, they scored an international hit with “Misti Blu” in 2002, featuring Taka Boom, Chaka Khan and Mark Stevens. Their 2024 reimagining, “misti blu two”, became a 2025 GRAMMY contender and drew support from Paul Oakenfold and Timo Maas. The BBC once called them “one of the most exciting bands to emerge from the British dance scene since Massive Attack.” Their latest chapter includes a collaboration with Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Zoë Johnston.