Lost Map Records is proud to announce Rozi Plain’s exquisite third album Friend this summer. A spellbinding reaffirmation of the London-based, Winchester-born singer-songwriter as one of the most unique and original voices in UK alt-folk, Friend features contributions fromHot Chip’s Alexis Taylor and members of Francois & The Atlas Mountains among many others. It’s preceded by the single Actually, which won the Rebel Playlist on BBC 6 Music by 76% of the vote, and has been described by DIY Mag as ‘about the most gorgeous, all-encompassing introduction imaginable for this London-based songwriter’. Rozi Plain will prepare for the release of Friend with a UK and European tour, including shows together withThis Is The Kit (whom Rozi will both open for and perform as a member of), ahead of summer festival appearances.

Following the release of Jogalong in October 2014 as a split 7” on Lost Map together withRachael Dadd – a song hailed by Jo Whiley’s as her Favourite Thing of the Week on Whiley’s BBC Radio 2 show – Actually is the second track to be released from Friend and the album’s opener. Over a spare, snaking groove, Rozi reflects on ‘a difficult year, a tumultuous year’ in a fascinatingly elliptical lyric delivered as a kind of dialogue with the exotic birdsong melody of a vintage synthesiser. It’s a suitably intoxicating yet heavy-hearted introduction to Friend, which was engineered by Kristian Robinson (Capitol K), and features contributions from Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), Gerard Black and Amaury Ranger (Babe / Francois & The Atlas Mountains), Kate Stables and Jamie Coles (This Is The Kit), and singer-harpist Serafina Steer.

Rozi Plain has been making music since her brother taught her a few chords on the guitar aged 13. Raised in Winchester, she spent a few years studying art and painting boats in Bristol, where she began collaborating with long-term collaborators Kate Stables and Rachael Dadd among many others on a thriving local scene. It was there that she made her first two albums, 2008’s Inside Over Here and 2012’s Joined Sometimes Unjoined, each works of deliciously sad and beautiful pop full of heart-wrenching harmonies dotted with unexpected instrumental flourishes. Both records are presently available via Lost Map Records.

Rozi recently moved to London, but she doesn’t see her flat all that often because she tours a great deal year round. She has taken her joyous live show on the road around Europe, the UK and the USA, in partnership with alt-folk luminaries from Devendra Banhart to James Yorkston and Lost Map’s own The Pictish Trail. She has appeared at festivals includingGlastonbury, End of the Road and Green Man. As a member of This Is The Kit, Rozi has also toured widely, including several dates around Europe last year opening for The National.

‘Brilliant – a big favourite of the show’ – Lauren Laverne, BBC 6 Music

The Eagle Inn is an excellent traditional pub from the team behind the Castle Hotel, the Parlour and Gullivers. It’s just off Trinity Way, an eight-minute walk from Manchester Cathedral on Deansgate.