Music / new releases
Acclaimed ‘jazz (not jazz)’ heavyweights release long-awaited new record
Experimental saxophone-led jazz project Run Logan Run has released LV:HRD, the second instalment of EP trilogy Prey/LV/Ears which amounts to their first musical release for over three years.
Calling themselves “jazz (not jazz)” and “scorching energy music for the 21st century”, with this latest record bandleader Andrew Neil Hayes builds on a reputation that saw the project headline London’s Jazz Café and play the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury festival, securing its place within the UK’s thriving nu-jazz scene.
Initially comprising drums and saxophone, Run Logan Run became well-known for its fierce and dynamic performances over eight years on the live circuit before announcing a hiatus in 2022.
Their return was fan-fared in May 2025 with release of the first of the triptych of EPs, Prey for Peace.
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The latest record and series as a whole takes a stripped back approach that reflects a departure from the big band sound of the album Nature Will Take Care of You released in November 2022 and featuring string, brass, vocal and keys sections that included many of Bristol’s innovative musicians.
With this iteration of the project Hayes, who’s dedicated focus is the creative possibilities of the saxophone, has returned to his roots, collaborating with lifelong friends Jonathan Wolf and BB James.
Producer Wolf encouraged Hayes to experiment with the studio itself as an instrument – “I thought to myself okay, it’s just me now, how can I have a conversation with machines?” he says – sparking “an intense period of exploration and reflection” that resulted in the suite of EPs that make up an album conceived in three parts.
Multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter James lent vocals to three of the EP’s tracks, while Hayes recruited “Bristol’s busiest drummer” Ryan Thrupp to round off the project.
After suffering burnout following an intense period of touring and releasing music, bandleader Andrew Neil Hayes went through what he has called “a journey of dismantlement and subsequent rebuild” to find a new creative direction for his sound
LV:HRD is a brooding record with an industrial backbone and a pulsating underbelly.
Its title references the practice of compassion in the face of death, disease and destruction, while its sound rebounds from sublime vocal meanderings to bracing electronic beats and psychedelic polyrhythms that make the brain swim.
“LV:HRD refers to those fucked up moments in your life where people you love are fatally ill and all you can do is love them through all the grief and pain and anger,” says Hayes. “It also touches on the difficult practice of trying to love your enemies.
“Run Logan Run built our reputation off the back of intense live shows, but chasing that energy and being able to turn it on and off on demand was takings its toll. I was desperate for time and space to create new sounds, free from the restraint of expectation.
“Experimentation has always been at the core of my music making process and Prey/LV/Ears is the next evolution of this… We spent a lot of time messing about in the studio, making strange noises, chatting shit, having a laugh basically. Trying to shed the pretence of past excursions.”
The reception to the new music has been warm, with renowned selector Gilles Peterson offering support on his Worldwide FM and BBC 6 Music shows, and single Skew Yew chosen as KCRW’s Top Tune on release. As Hayes says, “Run Logan Run is well and truly back for more.”
LV:HRD was released on November 21 on Hayes’ imprint Ankh Sanctuary: listen and purchase at runloganrun.bandcamp.com/album/lv-hrd
All images: Chris Lucas
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