Songs from the City

Autumn 2025 saw the launch of ‘Songs from the City’, the album created by the group of local songwriters Living Archive MK has been working with for the past 18 months. All the songs on the album have been written in response to our archive, reflecting many different aspects of life in Milton Keynes.

MANNY’s song reflects on the importance of Youth Music Services to him as a teenager. Sheniah Asiamah has written about the impact of Lockdown in 2020 on the city’s key workers; the album also features her anthemic ‘My City’. The Isle of CC has written a song which considers the richness of community in Fishermead. Tremaine Dawkins and Natasha Seale have both written songs in tribute to local people who have made major contributions to local life, Albert Bernard and Naseem Khan; together they have also written a new song in celebration of the time an alien visited Fishermead. Anna Hester’s song, ‘Dig Where you Stand’, celebrates Living Archive itself, and was written for our 40th anniversary in 2024. The Seven Sentinels has crafted songs about the historic brickworks at Bletchley, and also a song which reflects on the importance of green spaces in our city.

The songwriters represent the best and brightest songwriting talent in Milton Keynes. It has been a joy to collaborate with them and to watch them respond to the richness of our archive.

Track list:

My City – Sheniah Asiamah (guitar: Laurent Veignal)

Unsung Heroes – Sheniah Asiamah (cello: Nicole Collarbone)

Brickworks – Seven Sentinels

Beautiful Day – Seven Sentinels (voice note sample: MC Justice)

Community – The Isle of CC (piano: Sheniah Asiamah)

Wild Youth – MANNY

Naseem Cooks – Natasha Seale (backing vocals: Tremaine Dawkins)

Albie The Hero – Tremaine Dawkins (backing vocals: Natasha Seale)

Zerena – Natasha Seale & Tremaine Dawkins

Dig Where You Stand – Anna Hester (with Milton Keynes Youth Choir)