(HaiVi / a separate space)
WSTRN’S HAILE UNVEILS LONG-AWAITED DEBUT SOLO PROJECT ‘SPARE ROOM’
12 NOV 2025: British singer-songwriter and former WSTRN member, Haile has unveiled his eagerly anticipated debut solo project ‘Spare Room’.
Born out of a period of deep reflection during the pandemic, the self-termed “intimate capsule collection” offers a thoughtful exploration into Haile’s world — his upbringing, values, and voice — framed through stories of heritage, love, faith, resilience, and healing. Over the course of the EP’s 7 tracks, Haile balances lyrical maturity and emotional honesty with warm, bass-driven production and a crisp vocal delivery that’s uniquely textured.
‘Spare Room’ is as much a musical journey as it is a metaphorical one with its name taking after the sacred space in many Caribbean homes that holds memories, secrets, conversations, family disputes, prayers, recipes, aromas and private reflection. In the process, positioning the EP as an emotional and sonic archive.
Produced entirely by Haile’s brother – superstar producer PRGRSN (Stormzy, Bashy, Tiana Major9, Burna Boy, Pa Salieu) – ‘Spare Room’ is a rich and contemporary love letter to the under-discussed history of roots reggae and its British offshoot lovers rock. An era in Black British music history that Haile has familial ties to. As part of the prominent reggae group Zabandis, Haile’s father Iauwata Alexander toured the world with some of the genre’s most notable figures; Bob Marley, Winston Francis, Dennis Brown, Prince Jazzbo, and Louisa Mark.
Until ‘Spare Room’, Haile as a soloist had initially resigned himself to working behind the scenes as a songwriter while also racking guest appearances on tracks by the likes of GoldLink, Headie One, Nines, Bashy, Potter Paper, Juls, Tamera, Skrapz and Chris Brown. His long-awaited solo debut arrives a decade after his arrival into the UK music scene as the standout voice in the genre-blending trio WSTRN. Alongside Akelle Charles, and Louis Rei, Haile would craft prolific amalgamations of dancehall, R&B and UK hip-hop.
Across five engulfing projects, the trio seared into the ears of a nation, caressing the eardrum with a boundless supply of hits, but it was their 2015 single ‘In2’ that formally ushered in the trio’s arrival. Instantly anthemic, harmoniously smooth and youthful in its subject matter, it quickly courted The UK. Singles Chart, ascending to No.4. They would go on to release a host of singles like ‘A List’, ‘Come Down’, ‘Txtin’, ‘Sharna’ and other releases, helping to define the sound of contemporary Black Britain.
The arrival of ‘Spare Room’ comes on the heels of previously released singles ‘Pure Blue’, ‘Half Way’, ‘Sativa’ and ‘Ms Gina’. All of the preceding singles cumulatively received rapturous critical praise and support from press and radio outlets such as BBC 1XTRA, Official Charts, GRM Daily, Mixtape Madness, Sicka Vision and a plethora of others. ‘Pure Blue’ in particular garnered wide industry praise from Skepta, Chronixx, Seanie B, Beres Hammond and the legendary Stone Love Soundsystem who cited it as the best lovers rock single they’ve heard in 20 years. Meanwhile ‘Ms Gina’ scored support from none other than Sir Elton John who played the track on his ‘Rocket Hour’ radio show on Apple Music.
Coinciding with the EP’s release, Haile has unveiled ‘Big Win’ as the project’s latest single. Autobiographical and brimming with sentimental value, the track details the dynamic road and journey he traversed in the process of stepping out as a solo artist. Speaking on the track’s inspiration Haile said: “The track is about choosing truth over trend and proving that every small, authentic step still leads to the destination. Running away from the lesson, or truth in a situation does nothing”.
With this solo debut, Haile doesn’t just revisit and honour the tradition of lovers rock and reggae — he reimagines it with a modern sensibility for a new generation. Feeling less like a solo outing but more so like a homecoming.
TRACKLIST
01 Big Win
02 Pure Blue
03 Half Way
04 Ms Gina
05 Sativa
06 Robin Hood
07 Nah
Haile
‘Spare Room’
HaiVi / a separate space
