GETTING IT BACK: THE STORY OF CYMANDE NOW AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL WORLDWIDE (EX-UK) FOR A LIMITED TIME FROM MERCURY STUDIOS
“This documentary is an education and a good-news story about the remarkable 70s British funk band Cymande who should be as big as Earth Wind & Fire, but aren’t. Or at least not yet.”
– THE GUARDIAN/Peter Bradshaw
“Tim Mackenzie-Smith’s joyous doc offers some Searching
For Sugarman-style reappraisal. The Cymaissance starts here”
– TOTAL FILM/Matt Glasby
February 19, 2025 – Today, legendary British band Cymande have announced that Tim Mackenzie-Smith’s critically acclaimed and award winning documentary on Cymande: Getting It Back: The Story Of Cymande, will be available for rentals via Mercury Studios beginning today for a limited time. This marks the first time the film will be available as a rental anywhere in the world (ex-UK).
Cymande, a group of Black British musicians who all came to the U.K. from the Caribbean as children, released three brilliant albums in quick succession in the early 1970s and were embraced in the USA. But in the U.K., they faced a music business beset by prejudice against homegrown Black talent and were largely ignored. They originally split in 1975, but their music lived on, as successive generations of artists and fans found and embraced their songs. Hip Hop, House, Drum and Bass, R&B, Rare Groove, and crate-digging communities all saw something in the songs of Cymande that inspired them.
Through insightful interviews with band members and influential figures including Mark Ronson, Laura Lee and Mark Speer (Khruangbin), DJ Maseo (De La Soul), Jazzie B (Soul II Soul), Cut Chemist, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Louie Vega, and Kool DJ Red Alert, this stranger than fiction documentary explores the band’s profound impact and enduring legacy.
Cymande has continued to strengthen their legacy and impact, with the release of a brand-new album titled Renascence last month and worldwide touring during 2025 and beyond. The band are currently in the middle of their first proper U.S. tour in over ten years.
CYMANDE TOUR DATES
US TOUR DATES
FEB 19 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theatre
FEB 21 – Denver, CO – Bluebird
FEB 22 – Seattle, WA – Crocodile
FEB 23 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater
FEB 26 – San Francisco, CA – August Hall*
FEB 28 – Los Angeles, CA – The Bellwether
EUROPEAN TOUR DATES
MAY 25 – Cross The Tracks Festival – London
AUG 7 – Gothenburg, SE – Way Out West Festival
OCT 7 – Copenhagen, DK – Vega
OCT 8 – Berlin, DE – Huxley’s Neue Welt
OCT 10 – The Hague, NL – Paard
OCT 11 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
OCT 13 – Brussels, BE – Cirque Royal
OCT 14 – Paris, FR – La Cigale
OCT 16 – Manchester, UK – Albert Hall
OCT 17 – London, UK O2 Academy Brixton