Back in 2005, when Loverboy was a mere intern at Arena (RIP), our first task, after making the tea obvs, was to interview Kele Okereke. After we bonded over our love for Strangers With Candy, he’s been one of our favourite people ever since. He then went on to extoll the virtues of Destiny’s Child to indie bible NME, appeared on our favourite cover of Attitude and even found time to make some amazing music both solo and with the reformed Bloc Party.

But now he is shifting medium and writing for the stage. Yes, he has teamed up with Doctor Who’s Matt Jones and the pair have created Leave To Remain, a play…with songs! Opening this January at London’s Lyric Hammersmith, Leave to Remain is a remarkable story of a young gay couple suddenly faced with an uncertain future, told through a mixture of music, drama and movement. It explores the effects of one couple’s marriage, and what happens when it begins to fracture both their families.

Kele says, ‘For the music for this project I took cues from the records that my parents would play in our house when I was growing up, West African high-life music, and I tried to combine those sounds with the electronic dance music I hear in clubs today.’ Find out more here.

The first song from the play is entitled ‘Not The Drugs Talking’ and you can listen to it below!