Yebba

Yebba plays New Century in Manchester on August 25, 2026. Born Abbey Smith in West Memphis, Arkansas, she emerged at the end of the 2010s with a blend of church-choir grounding, contemporary soul and R&B, and a taste for jazz-tinged arrangements. The live performance of My Mind and the 2017 single Evergreen put the focus on her voice: stacked harmonies, pliable melodies and writing that leans into intimate shifts of feeling. Along the way, collaborations with Sam Smith, PJ Morton, Mark Ronson and Ed Sheeran have bridged pop, R&B and modern soul while keeping a voice-centered approach at the core.

Her debut album, Dawn (2021), gathers that spectrum into a cohesive sound, from slow-burning soul to hushed ballads and pop-inflected grooves, with songs like Distance and October Sky standing out. On stage, Yebba treats the voice as an instrument—layered, bent, woven into the arrangement—supported by musicians who leave space for dynamics and subtle rhythmic moves. The result connects gospel roots with the textures of today’s R&B, carried by careful phrasing and harmonies built for live interplay.