Circle of Light celebrated the release of their new album, COL 6, at Fisher Gate Point to coincide with World Mental Health Day 2025...
The award-winning collective Circle of Light, funded by the Youth Music Fund, began life in 2019 with the aim of making the music industry more accessible for 18-25-year-olds living with mental health problems. Since then, the group has gone from strength to strength, releasing six albums, winning youth music awards in 2019 and 2023 and giving a platform to some incredible musicians. They've also been nominated for "Outstanding Project" at the 2025 Youth Music Awards.
The room at Fisher Gate Point was laden in pink, with a disco ball above the stage, which was designed and decorated by the artists. Tatum Phoenix Harris' grandma's cupcakes were sold at the bar, with the money raised going back into funding Circle of Light. The community feel is evident everywhere you turn.
Last year's brilliant host, DreaM17, was back compering the night, but this time shared hosting duties with another artist, Nikki. The pair bounced off each other pretty well throughout the evening, which can be a demanding role during a live performance.
The night began with a song called Here We Go Again, performed by Molly May, Simran, Brian Bryant, TR!$TXN, Taysian, Tatum and ASHLY SONG. It's a jaunty, acoustic tune about meeting new people, and the group coming together to write and perform at Circle of Light, and was the perfect start to the COL 6 album launch. Brian Bryant remained on stage for the incredibly catchy Night and Day, which saw the first appearances from Romy, Aaleyah Brown, Rajae Wright, and Joshua Todd, whose debut single I Never Did was also out today.
A poem by Taysian, The Art of Letting Go, has been reworked into a song that wouldn't sound out of place on an early 2000s era "chillout" compilation with Norah Jones and Zero 7, a truly beautiful track, with vocals from Brooklyn Wright.
Jude Forsey was the frontman for a tune that is very firmly in his wheelhouse. Falling is a brooding, thoughtful piece with Aaleyah Brown and Joshua Todd combining to bring it to life on stage. The eclectic mix of sounds is one of the things which makes the Circle of Light album launches so intriguing; you don't know what genre will be up next, and you often have performers working across a few different songs on COL 6.
Rajae Wright, Aaleyah Brown and Taysian combined for the catchy Reggae for Rajae, which had more of a laid-back SKA feel to it, the kind of song you could imagine The Selecter coming out with.
Two more first-time performers, Brad Dutton and Jonah Michael, teamed up with Simran for Brad's Song; although not on the album, the low-key performance was a poignant reminder of the work Circle of Light does, and why the album launches are held on World Mental Health Day. Back to the album tracklist, Nomad had a powerful message; it included the lyric from Tatum "paying the price for living a double life", and even though he forgot to plug his guitar in, it didn't diminish from the performance with Brooklyn, Simran, Tobey and TR!$TXN.
Next up, it was time for a bit of "riot grrrl" inspired indie with Romy and Hailey backed up by Aaleyah Brown on drums with the raucous Just a Liar. Fossil House followed, which saw Nikki ditch her hosting duties for a moment to perform on stage.
Similar to Here We Go Again and Brad's Song, not every track performed on the night is featured on COL 6, and the well-produced, polished Blue Eyes by ASHLY SONGS and rapper Danny Riggs is one of them. It's had some airplay on the BBC's regional stations, however. Danny and ASHLY have very different on-stage energy, but it meshes perfectly, and Danny's line "like Oasis we're going All Around the World", is another nod to the different influences the performers draw upon.
This year's event was tighter and shorter than last year's. From my experiences working in special education around Nottinghamshire, I know that long, loud events can sometimes be quite difficult for some, so shaving half an hour or so off the run time seems like a good idea.
After getting "dissed" by DreaM17, Nikki and Simran in a Desi-inspired song which drew on many different references and samples, the audience was treated to the final song of the night, Let Me Go, which was also performed as the encore to a rapturous reception from the supportive crowd. And with that, another intoxicating evening came to an end; the two-week album project has been smashed out of the park yet again by Circle of Light as the newcomers have seamlessly integrated with the "old" heads to produce more excellent music.
COL 6 is available to stream on Spotify and iTunes, and Fisher Gate Point will be a venue for this year's Hockley Hustle.
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
