Offie Mag

BODUR and Coby Sey have been orbiting London’s experimental music scene for years, so it feels slightly surprising that it took until 2025 for the two to actually meet. When they finally did, a quick brunch in East London turned into a four-hour hang, with the pair talking politics, relationships and music before ending up digging through records together. Not exactly the worst way to spend an afternoon.

The connection eventually made its way into the studio, where they joined producer Gabriel Gifford for a session that would become 'LEAVE'. While BODUR and Coby have both spent years pushing music into stranger and more adventurous territory, the track started from something much simpler: a shared love of classic R&B. 'LEAVE' is about that particularly uncomfortable point in a relationship where you’re not quite sure whether you should stay or go, and the song captures that uncertainty. Rather than smoothing everything out in the studio, the trio kept much of the character of that original session intact, giving the track a deliberately unfinished feel.

It’s a slightly different side to BODUR, whose debut album MAQAM brought together avant-pop, electronic production and Arabic musical traditions, while her more recent SECOND LANGUAGE project saw her write and record live for 28 hours inside the V&A. Coby, meanwhile, has long been a central figure in London’s experimental scene, from his work as a founding member of CURL alongside Mica Levi and Brother May to collaborations with Tirzah, Dean Blunt, Kelly Lee Owens and Speakers Corner Quartet.

'LEAVE' is the first taste of BODUR’s forthcoming EP BOX OF TRICKS, a project built around the idea of instinct taking precedence over expectation. And really, that seems to be exactly what happened here. Three musicians got in a room, followed an idea and resisted the temptation to overthink it. Sometimes that’s all you need.

You can buy ‘LEAVE’ here.

Words by Louis Rowland.