"I'm reclaiming control of the album that kickstarted my career."
In February 2012, London-Irish artist Maverick Sabre (AKA Michael Stafford), hailing from the London borough of Hackney and Wexford’s New-Ross, released his debut album Lonely Are the Brave.
An incarnation of beautiful tragedy, Sabre’s hypnotic vocal maturity, defined by a honeyed grit expressing a plethora of intimate feelings, established the twenty-one-year-old as an internationally acclaimed voice of contemporary soul.
The album secured the Number Two spot in the UK album charts within the first week of its release, selling over 250,000 copies - but Sabre says that he never reaped the fruits of his creative labour.
Ten years on, Sabre is publicly reasserting control over the music that started everything for him.
"I never got any royalties from that album," he says today. Nothing. I had made this album – but I was still skint."
In 2022, Maverick re-recorded and re-released Lonely Are the Brave (Mav’s Version), this time on his own terms. Revisiting the original studio sessions that feature the artist’s then nineteen-year-old voice, Sabre recaptured the beauty of his original work while staying true to the space he inhabits today.
This reincarnated album, an official mark of restoration, shares its precursor’s tracklist and the close-up cover image that replicates the original, but this time Sabre is the sole beneficiary of his own success. The new release adopted a more understated approach to production than before – an effective subtlety that bares all.
"The album is called Lonely Are the Brave for a reason, because that’s the headspace I was in at the time," he says. "That sentiment matched where I felt and how I looked at the world. In a beautiful, way most of the songs will always and sadly, some of them are still very relevant."
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Sabre isn’t consumed with fierce resentment and total condemnation for the music industry. He doesn’t wholly renounce creative commodification as a demonic capitalist scheme to savagely exploit creatives, chewing them up and spitting them out like some sort of hellish beast.
"That whole experience – it did really hurt me," he says. "I was young, I was naïve. But I’ve already been through that journey of anger and hate."
A decade of healing has engendered pragmatism and self-sought restoration - not a spiteful bashing campaign. Rather, Sabre is using his experience to inform. Featuring recently on an ITV News feature, Maverick was the protagonist of his own cautionary tale, warning young artists of the dangers and potential risks of financially precarious record deals.
This mentorship exceeds the realm of financial advice, as Maverick actively supports the endeavors of up-and-coming artists. As a long-time collaborative partner of British RnB artist Jorja Smith – who Sabre met when she was just sixteen years old and aptly refers to as his "lil’ sis" - the pair have worked on countless projects together. Irish artists aren't exempt from Sabre’s support, either - his homecoming headliner in Dublin’s 3Olympia and London’s KOKO featured eclectic Irish group BrickNasty as one of the support acts. During his latest trip home, Maverick spent time in Dublin’s Jungle Beam Studio (founded by producer Simba Bianchi) with Gaelic rapper Sello, a nominee for RTÉ 2fm Rising's 'Irish Artist of The Year’ for 2022.
"I have a duty to help younger artists, like older artists have helped me when I was starting," he says. "We have so much talent here man it’s crazy. It needs to be supported."
Lonely But The Brave (Mav's Version) is out now.
