As 2022 comes to a close, we asked the Abbey Road team to look back and reflect on what has been a particularly poignant year for the studios.
From their favourite projects to work on, most played albums and their tips for which artists will be 2023’s burgeoning names — find out more about Abbey Road's
Simon Gibson,
Alex Evans and
Matt Kingdon in our
2022 Rewind series.
Favourite project you’ve worked on at Abbey Road this year and why?
Simon Gibson
"Dr. Who Series 13 and the specials – Segun Akinola’s last outing as composer on the franchise. Some great music and the culmination of a long-term working relationship."
Alex Evans
"I do Warner archiving, and I would say my favourite archive I have done this year has probably been some Talking Heads tapes. They’re a great band and I’m a big fan, so it was a nice surprise when I saw the tapes come in!"
Matt Kingdon
"Without a doubt the reinstallation of Studio Three. We were able to completely rewire the studio and change the look and feel of it as well. It was a lot of work which involved all members of the studio team not just the technical department and the results were thoroughly satisfying. It was always one of my favourite rooms and the work completed on it has only improved it."
Your favourite album of 2022?
Simon Gibson
"SONG – Sheku Kanneh-Mason. The young British cellist with some great arrangements for solo cello and small ensemble. Something for everyone, but with some original twists."
Alex Evans
"My favourite album of the year has been by Bernard Butler & Jessie Buckley For All Our Days That Tear The Heart. I saw their performance on Jools Holland and I was sold."
Matt Kingdon
"Rosalie Cunningham, Two Piece Puzzle"
Which new artist / band are you most excited about for 2023?
Simon Gibson
"Blossom Dearie is an American jazz singer from the 1960s and Universal Catalogue are producing a complete box set of her albums plus a lot of unreleased tracks from archive tapes.
I remastered the whole lot including transferring all of the archive material so it could be assessed and tracks chosen for the release.
She was a big name back in her day, performing a lot in the UK – one of the albums is a live recording at Ronnie Scott’s.
It has some great performances within the box set and will appeal to a lot of listeners."
Alex Evans
"Probably a band called Public Body. They are good friends and have been getting played on 6 Music and seem to be doing really well."
Matt Kingdon
"Tesco Chainstore Massacre. These kids could be really something…"
