Cooking with Class

Wilkswood Reggae 2023 is delighted to present the amazing Hollie Cook, bringing her own brand of ‘tropical pop’ live and direct to the main stage at this year’s festival. 

Hollie, born in 1987 in West London, is a singer and keyboardist and was part of the final line-up of iconic all-female punk/reggae band the Slits. Since 2010, she has been working as a solo artist producing a style of music she calls ‘tropical pop’, influenced by her passion for female rocksteady and reggae singers such as Janet Kay and Phyllis Dillon. Cook’s ability to continually surprise, delight and progress solidifies her position as one of this generation’s premier voices in reggae.

Hollie has a deep musical pedigree: her father is Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook and her mother Jeni was a backing singer for Culture Club (Boy George is her godfather). Hollie joined the re-formed Slits and performed on the band’s 2006 EP Revenge of the Killer Slits, as well as performing on collaborations with former Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown and Jamie T.

In 2011 Hollie released her eponymous debut album produced by Prince Fatty and featuring George Dekker of the Pioneers and Dennis Bovell. The album featured singles Milk And Honey, That Very Night and Walking In The Sand. The BBC, reviewing the album, described it as “one of the most enjoyable reggae albums” and she went on to record a radio session for the BBC and appear on Later… with Jools Holland. A dub remix version of the album was released in May 2012.

Hollie’s second album, Twice, was released in May 2014 and sees her obvious love of reggae joined by other influences including Bond-like strings, Brazilian percussion, dark disco and shades of Giorgio Moroder. Once again produced by Prince Fatty, she is joined on the album by Dennis Bovell, Omar, George Dekker and Winston Francis. Her third album, Vessel of Love, was released in January 2018 and features Alex Paterson, Martin ‘Youth’ Glover, Gaudi and Jah Wobble. In the same year Hollie released Sweet Like Chocolate, a cover of the classic 1999 Shanks & Bigfoot hit.

Her most recent album, Happy Hour, was released in 2022 and was produced  by acclaimed, legendary producer Martin ‘Youth’ Glover: “I’m very honoured to work with Hollie, one of the most exciting emerging singers and writers over the last ten years. She combines seductive and wistful melodies, underpinned with some sharp lyrical observations and clever word play combined with an exquisite and informed pop sensibility. It was a pleasure to work with an artist with such high-calibre criteria and vision.”