- 2025-08-15
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MUSIC
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Craig David Releases New Album “Commitment”
British singer-songwriter Craig David released his ninth studio album “Commitment” on August 8, 2025.
The album is his first LP in three years since the 2022 album 22 and is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his debut album “Born to Do It”.
The album comprises 13 tracks, featuring guest appearances from American singer-songwriter JoJo, British singer-songwriter Louisa Johnson and Nigerian singer-songwriter Tiwa Savage. Produced by Mike Brainchild and Tre Jean-Marie.
Craig David said of the album, “'Commitment' is everything to me now that 'Born To Do It' was to me as a teen. That's what it feels to me, that's what it means to me. And I hope that when people listen to it they have that same feeling all over again. Making music still turns me into that giggly, excited, little kid who wants to feel the magic of it all – but with 25 years of experience.”
He added, “When you're young, parts of you are fragmented out. You're trying to find yourself, and you give parts of yourself away, and you're trying to fit in. The hero's journey is to go back out there in the wilderness and find all the pieces that you gave away and bring them all back in. That's the true sentiment of what Commitment is about-being committed to find the true essence of who you really are. Once you get that, then your reference point is you.”- He told EUPHORIA. about the album title, “Over the years, I've had so many people reach out, saying, 'Can you give us that garage music? We want the garage guy.' Meanwhile, the next person would be like, 'I want R&B. Remember when you gave us them R&B cuts?' Then some will be like, 'Can you just give us more of those classic songs?' So when I was listening to that, I was like, 'Well, okay. I know that everyone's not quite articulating what it is, but I feel I get what it is you're looking for.' It's a feeling they're looking for, and that's why the album is called Commitment, because I feel committed to creating that feeling for them. I know that feeling myself.”
He continued, “I feel like the importance for me was making sure I got these songs on there that I felt were a celebration of the stuff that people have enjoyed from me over the years, but also be mindful that we're making an album, so it's not just some random thing with all tunes just popping up all over the place. But at the same time, I'm just committed to delivering that vibe, but also documenting where I'm at in my life.” -
Craig David explained some tracks for the album.
“Wake Up”
“Wake Up” for me is my way of not only respecting my garage roots, but also keeping alive the cultural foundation of the sound from where it all started. The lyric reinforces literally and metaphorically the essence of making sure we don't fall asleep on the importance of nurturing something we care about. Especially if we don't want to end up losing it by taking it for granted. This echoes how I feel about the unique sound of UK Garage and the importance of nurturing it for generations to come around the world.
I felt super inspired mixing in the vibes of Indo – R U Sleeping on this one, just like me playing out a TS5 garage set. The whole vibe ignited some core memories for me that not only had me in my feels, but inspired me to grab the mic and spit bars again. Just like when I was on pirate radio MC'ing back in the days.”
“In It With You” featuring JoJo via EUPHORIA.
“I was so gassed when it all came together because we had a demo originally done by one of the songwriters called Megan, who's done several songs with me over the years. Amazing songwriter. I sent it to JoJo, and it all aligned. Tori Kelly had a song with JoJo, and Tori had come over to London and we'd done a little surprise thing at an acoustic performance. And Tori's vocals are incredible as well. There was this perfect synergy where I was like, 'Maybe JoJo would be cool for doing a vocal, but I don't know.' Even if she doesn't the song, if she was just up for us going in the studio and doing something together, I'd be down for it. But she came back and said, 'No. I love the song. I'd love to cut it.' I told her that she could do a new verse, do her whole thing. I told her, 'I want you to be part of it.' She was like, 'No, no, no. I love the song. I wanna sing it as it is.' I was like, 'Wow. Okay. Cool. Let's go!' She cut the vocal in New York, but we were literally talking to each other all the way through and having a conversation. There was a rapport there rather than it just being like, 'Here's the song.' I asked her to send it when you're done, kind of thing. But when she sent it over and I just heard that vocal, I was in my bag because I was like, 'Yes, JoJo!' I felt it was a song that was great before, but she's taken it to another level now.
She's unbelievable. And you know what? I felt there was a lot of synonymous things going on because she'd released a book quite recently too, and it was cathartic to her. She was wearing her heart on her sleeve, like going into places that would have been hard for someone to share with the public in the way that she did. And I just felt like I respected her for that. And I feel like she's in her new glow-up season of, well, everything's here in the book. You know how I feel about things. But, also, how great I am as a vocalist and a live artist.”
“Commitment” featuring Tiwa Savage
“I wrote the song a good ten or eleven months ago with a producer called Mike Brainchild, and when we got in I was like I love where we're going melodically, I love the story, we didn't have the whole world in your hands part at the time and we lived with it. This was hitting, and this was before the cusp of around the time when Beyonce dropped her country-based record, Shaboozey came through with his thing, and I just thought I just wanna live with this tune. I walked out of the studio and we had a different chorus and I started singing 'In Your Hands' and we properly pondered on it for a while and every time we did a session together it came back every time. Rather than getting too heady about the whole thing, let's just put the tune out and let it live, let it breathe and don't get in the way. I know it meant a lot to so many different people, the verses give it context now as well.”
“SOS”
“There's a time in life when you come to a point of realisation that all of the playing it safe, being cautious & guarded around opening our hearts up to love, doesn't work. Even if we have been hurt before. SOS is all about that moment of feeling vulnerable, yet ready & open to taking a risk, a leap of faith to let someone know you are finally ready to let love in, however scary it may feel.”
“Dominoes” via EUPHORIA.
“It's my way of talking about mental health, but having a different way of going there, using the term dominoes [as a metaphor] of falling back. You can be clever with saying things that I feel so many people need to hear, even if they didn't know they needed it. But the music and song itself, hopefully the melodies and notes will hit that make you feel some type of way. just wanna evoke the feeling, but also have something underneath it. It's not just that we're in a club, and we're getting turned up till the morning.”
“In Your Hands”
“I wrote that song about a year ago and I didn't have that chorus. I had something different. When I came back to the studio a month later, we revisited it. I started humming the hook speaking to my younger self, having that faith. Sometimes you lose faith and then it comes back to you. I didn't overthink this one but I wanted to make sure I landed it in the right way. I have not sung that melody of the hook in many years. It just popped in like it was a download. You have the world, you've got the whole world in your hands. When a woman's holding a baby, she has the world in her hands. It's an empowering song because God is in all of us. You've got the world in your hand."
“Rain”
“This was the very first song I recorded for 'Commitment'. It all started with this one. Thanks to Tre Jean-Marie & Talay Riley for creating this special song with me. And to Mauro Fernandes Borges, ESTÚDIO CIE for always bringing the vision to life.”
Photo by Ejatu Shaw - source : Apple Music
