‘And your angels, they’ve renounced you / And your angels are no more / And they’ve left you for the city / And the city is their whore’

Rarely is The House That Soul Built sent a song of such brazen darkness. Here, Sister Cookie – known as London’s Black Rose of the Blues – summons the pain of betrayal and abandonment on her latest single ‘On Golgotha.’ Enjoying a cult following across the capital’s live music scene, Sister Cookie offers a melange of 50s/60s blues and jazz, occasionally coloured by the West African rhythms learnt from her upbringing in Lagos, Nigeria.

‘The lyrics for this song came from a poem I wrote many years ago, which uses imagery loosely based on the biblical story of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion to illustrate themes & personal feelings of betrayal, isolation, loneliness, abandonment & despair. I wanted the accompanying music to have a dark, hellfire gospel feel so I deconstructed a standard 12-bar blues (in a minor key to convey darkness) – but I also wanted it to be danceable, almost frenzied, like the music used in voodoo ceremonies.’

She sings not with technical finesse but with a thick, throaty bluesiness. Her vocal sits above gliding tenor saxophone, simmering organ and bursts of baritone sax. She closes the piece with a jolt.