James Brute is the alter ego of James Steel, songwriter and frontman of 2000s East London darlings, The Brute Chorus. Since the release of Bury Yourself—his debut solo single in 2014—his musical tales of love, loss, and lust have ventured into ever darker and more mysterious waters. The warp and weft of his songwriting speak to our basest human instincts, weaving together themes and characters that are at once ancient and modern, arcane and mundane.

In 2025 he began playing some of the most intimate shows of his career: unaccompanied, often completely unplugged, standing alone in the middle of a room among those who had gathered to listen. Stripped of all adornment, his songs emerged raw and unguarded – sung out, slung out and strung out for all to hear. And in that vulnerability, a new path began to emerge, the darkness pricked with the light of hope.