Tc.kylie

TC.KYLIE, a Manchester-based jazz fusion act, returns to the city for a headline show at The Deaf Institute's Music Hall, presenting material from a forthcoming debut album and an earlier EP. Hong Kong-born singer-songwriter JOYA opens the night.

Following a Manchester debut earlier in the year at Matt & Phred's, TC.KYLIE brings a full-band set to The Deaf Institute's Music Hall, presented as the artist's largest headline show in the city so far. The music is jazz fusion with a cinematic quality, built around piano, synths and a keytar that the artist plays as a central feature of the sound. Influences named in the material include Japanese jazz-rock, acid grooves, textures associated with the SEGA era and the warmth of Studio Ghibli-inspired scores.

The artist previously worked as a journalist for Hong Kong's public broadcaster RTHK, and the material links that background to a documentary approach to narrative and emotional detail in the songs. The set previews the debut album RE, conceived as an imagined lifetime that moves from childhood and rebellion through ambition, burnout, loss and acceptance, and also draws on the first EP, which shares the same title. The album has been described by Jazz Journal as a blend of European and Asian influences.

Hong Kong-born singer-songwriter JOYA opens the evening and also joins TC.KYLIE as a guest vocalist for a one-off Manchester collaboration. JOYA's multilingual indie pop deals with queer love, faith, healing and life between East and West. The Music Hall is a venue within The Deaf Institute, which hosts concerts and shows in Manchester.