Alt Blk Era have not been blurring, but smashing the lines between genres since the Nottingham-raised sister duo Nyrobi and Chaya Beckett-Nessam started creating music through posting covers of songs on Youtube in 2021, and with their debut album ‘Rave Immortal’, they have openly invited every fan to unleash their inner ‘nightmare upstairs neighbour’ with their press tour throughout the UK, including the iconic Pryzm in Kingston, London where many artists who have made it big in the industry start off strutting their stuff.
Alt Blk Era have grabbed multiple genres, such as Metal and EDM, and have compressed them into a tameless ball, which explodes during their performances. They come equipped with a stage presence that would make even the biggest live music hater leap out of their seat, with audience engagement that exuberantly encourages every single fan to get involved in the mayhem.
From the moment Nyrobi and Chaya burst onto the stage, the energy in the room shot from anticipation to roof-raising exhilaration with screams coming from every angle. Nyrobi started to bounce off the walls like a toddler on their fifth can of Monster with her high-energy attitude urging the fans to join in the excitement, whilst Chaya graced the stage with her ethereal vocals which were a blessing to eardrums everywhere. They started as they meant to go on, bursting through the crowd during their song ‘Freak Show’ and getting the adrenaline in the room pumping. They then segued sensationally into ‘Even if we're not: Solar’, one of their earliest releases, showing us that their energy has been and always will be shattering glass ceilings.
The duo then introduced their debut album ‘Rave Immortal’ into the mix with a heartfelt and personal story from Nyrobi, opening up about her struggles with her disability and how the next two tracks ‘Straight To Heart’ and ‘Come On Outside’ are projects which culminate her difficult time into a piece of art. ‘Straight To Heart’ invites Chaya’s astonishing vocals to take center-stage during this track and allows the fans present to connect with the sisters on a much deeper and more vulnerable level. The band moved immediately into the opening instrumental for the second track of the album ‘Come On Outside’, which focuses on the love and support that Nyrobi received from her sister Chaya during a time when her disability was at its very worst. The two tracks gave the essence of a warm hug to anyone who has ever felt alone in their sadness, which is a part of life that the whole room could relate to judging the cheers that preceded the tracks.
Through a drastic change of tone, the entire room was urged to become ‘narcissistic crazy ravers’ and match the duo’s energy for the next track ‘Upstairs Neighbours’, which is one of the highest-energy tracks to come from the debut album. With influences from genres such as EDM very apparent in these three minutes of absolute chaos, the entire room was shaking from the many feet bashing the floor. Nyrobi and Chaya related a story of how their downstairs neighbours made complaints about them creating music in their home, and this song along with the next two tracks tells that tale in a fierce and untameable way.
The next two tracks ‘Come Fight Me For It’ and ‘Run Rabbit’ continue the story in a humorous way, elaborating on how the duo will continue to create and perfect their craft, regardless of anyone trying to put a stop to it. ‘Come Fight Me For It’ urges fans to unleash their inner rage with the confrontational track, with a theme of raising your fists to anyone who ever dares cross you, which humorously phases into the track ‘Run Rabbit’ which had the room wanting to sprint laps around the venue as it built the energetic force of the fans to record heights.
Much to fans' elation, the next track was the iconic ‘My Drummer's Girlfriend’ which is their most popular release to date. Nyrobi and Chaya tasked the room with singing the catchy chorus alongside them, ensuring everybody knew the track word for word and all the fans could get involved in the madness, but the show, much to fans upset, came to a bittersweet end after this with the title track of the album, ‘Rave Immortal’, giving a new meaning to the phrase ‘Big finish’. This high-energy track gave fans their final chance to let loose for the evening and Alt Blk Era left the stage with the same fierce energy that they arrived with, engaging with fans surrounding them as they confidently stepped off the stage, knowing that the entire room was astonished by their performance.
Alt Blk Era’s debut album ‘Rave Immortal’ was released on 24th January 2025.
Words: Becca Wheeler
Photos: Lizzie Jones
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