Henry Coke Shares New Single ‘Ode To A God’
Having already played with Geordie Greep and 1000 Rabbits, Henry Coke gets ready for his first headline slot at the Lexington in the new year in storm with his new single ‘Ode to a God’
From Debut album Let It Set Us Alight, Henry Coke shares the new song ‘Ode to a God’, ahead of a Lexington full album set in on February 3. From the first few seconds of the song it’s clear Coke is remarkably gifted and talented with a voice beyond his years - dialogue with a godlike spirit empathic and lush in a way that feels completely transformative. It’s the kind of song that feels incredibly distinctive and reflective in nature.
Henry shares his words behind“‘Ode To A God’ [which] is the opening track of my debut album ‘Let It Set Us Alight’, an exploration of questioning and doubt towards a feeling such as faith, bringing imagery of a prayer into a place of reflection - a distraction rather than saying the prayer itself. Talking to yourself rather than a meditation, like an inner conversation.”
Let it Set Us Alight introduces an artist who wrestles creativity with a deeply personal touch that searches for meaning within faith, peace within the chaos, and the dwindling embers of certainty to the burning anger of the unknown. Its ethereal chorale of lyrics in ‘Come to Me’ and ‘Let It’ and the screaming distortion of ‘Lost in the Fire’ allow Coke to look at the battle between the convictions of belief and what is described as the vaccuum of none.
The song itself is deeply sorrowful, emotionally arresting and completely moving and showcases a brilliant voice that you can’t help but embrace wholeheartedly. His story began as a teenager; where faith starts to fracture, and his vision of the world came sharper into focus just as easily as it changed. He is a Windmill scene and George Tavern graduate; having crafted his stage at London’s premier indie haunts where he has played with Geordie Greep and rising outfit 1000 Rabbits, sure to attract a lot of eyeballs for someone so compartively new on the scene. His works draw just as much from the likes of Young Fathers and Bob Dylan as they do wrestling with faith and God; and his record Let It Set Us Alight is set to pulse with urgency as it hurtles straight towards the heart. The album looks at Sufjan Stevens and Bon Iver’s existential uncertainty as inspiration, and the tracks so far show an artist exploring himself and figuring out who he is.
“It's about finding peace in the chaos,” Henry says of the album, which he recorded and self-produced in a student house in Lewisham. “The music is based around my own questioning. It details losing the faith that has also been the bedrock of my entire life, and what it means to walk away from that. It’s about me really trying to figure out where I stand.”
Following the introduction of Henry with the album’s lead singles, the powerful, horn led ‘Regret, You Make Me’ and the moving ‘I Want To Feel It In My Heart’, ‘Ode To A God’ showcases further the myriad of dimensions to Coke’s sound and the vocal ability displayed on Let It Set Us Alight, which Coke aims speak to those trying to understand their own direction in life. It is soothing and tender, there are shades of Fleet Foxes here already - as it offers a space for complexity not as something to resolve but to grow alongside.
Let It Set Us Alight is due to release on Friday 30 October via 5db Records.
Listen to ‘Ode To A God’ / Watch live session video
Henry Coke live
Weds 3rd February 2027 – The Lexington, London
Connect with Henry Coke
