Blackhaine Presents: I'm Only Here

In this Fact Original Commission, Blackhaine closes out his Fact Residency with I’m Only Here, a live performance of two new tracks that sees Tom Heyes linking up with rising producer Rainy Miller and Joshua Inyang of longtime Fact favourites Space Afrika. “Manchester feels so alive at the moment,” says Tom Heyes of the collaboration. “Space Afrika, Rainy Miller, Rawtape, Croww, Iceboy Violet, Acre, and many others contributing to the scene.”

“I think this collaboration represents the start of a new movement coming from this city,” Heyes continues. Earnestly terming Space Afrika “the best in the world right now” and exuding unstoppable enthusiasm for the hordes of vital producers, musicians and artists that make up Manchester’s numerous art and music scenes, Heyes likens the current atmosphere in the city to the late '70s and early '80s, when Factory Records was at the height of its powers.

I’m Only Here serves as both a state-of-the-nation address and as an evocative rumination on its hidden depths, at once ferocious and reflective. Inspired by his experiences on Manchester’s infamous Bury New Road, Heyes maps out a sort of nihilist psychogeography, telling grim tales of misty ring roads, dark Travelodge rooms and valleys “that look like a rib cage.”

These motifs form part of a larger narrative, a deep dive into a dingy Northern underworld, populated by desperate souls and small-time gangsters. It’s from the perspective of this contemporary purgatory that I’m Only Here is written from, as Heyes explains: “It’s me, bleeding out on the bathroom floor whilst this woman watches me die. These tracks narrate my final moments, the moments that led me to this grave.”

For more information about Rawtape and his work you can visit his website and follow him on Instagram.

For more information about Rainy Miller and his music, you can check out his label, Fixed Abode, tune into his NTS show The Progress Check and follow him on Instagram. You can find Space Afrika on Instagram. Their latest album, hybtwibt?, is available via Bandcamp.

For more information about Blackhaine and his work, you can visit his website and follow him on Instagram.

I’m Only Here Credits:

Performed and Written – Blackhaine
Produced and Written – Space Afrika & Rainy Miller
Film – Rawtape