Crazy P: “Our motto now is, ‘What would Danielle do?’”

Crazy P’s Jim Baron is reflecting on the group’s origins, an organic growth from partying to producing that’s a well-trodden path in dance music. “We were on the dancefloor first, then the studio. It fed into a kind of regular thing; car boot Sunday trip, sample it up, get really stoned, make music all day,” he explains. “We’ve always just been focused on making the music that we enjoy and like - all while having fun with it.”

Crazy P (formerly known as Crazy Penis) have been active in the dance and disco scenes since the mid-1990s, gaining attention over the years for their blend of uplifting, danceable grooves with introspective and emotive lyrics. Founded by Chris ‘Toddy’ Todd and James ‘Jim’ Baron while at university in Nottingham, they were signed by Manchester label Paper Recordings in 1998. In the studio they would be joined in a recording capacity by additional musicians, including bassist Tim Davies, drummer Matt Klose, and vocalist Danielle Moore, with this line-up officially uniting as a five-piece band after the turn of millennium. Over the years, the group have performed everywhere from Glastonbury to Glitterbox Ibiza together. They are known for tracks such as; ‘Heartbreaker’, a soulful, disco track with rich strings and heartfelt vocals; ‘Stop Space Return’, a funky, feel-good tune combining shimmering synths and vibrant rhythms; and ‘Like a Fool’, a bass-driven groove with crisp beats and a layer of emotional vulnerability.

The band have just released their ninth studio album, ‘Any Signs Of Love’, their first to be released since Danielle passed away in “sudden and tragic circumstances” on August 30, 2024. Work on the project began in 2023 and was completed with Danielle present earlier this year, and she described it as some of her “best work yet”, according to Toddy. “[Releasing this album] comes with some mixed feelings, obviously,” he said. “But all of us are really proud of it, and we had a good time making it.”

‘Any Signs Of Love’ consists of 10 tracks and is a dazzling celebration of Crazy P’s signature disco brilliance, seamlessly weaving together influences ranging from diva anthems to leftfield Balearic beats and cosmic Italo. It also reflects the deep connection shared by the group, and will forever be remembered as the album that captures their friendship and its value to how they make music together. Notably, the album boasts lead single ‘Human After All’, which epitomises the feel-good spirit that Crazy P have become known for, and lets Danielle’s poignant vocal work take centre stage and shine.

“We just had so much fun making this album,” Jim explains. The group went to a friend’s house in rural Yorkshire - where they decided to spend some time together and switch off from outside distractions and instead focus on the beats at hand. They took the same approach to make their 2019 album ‘Age of the Ego’, by going somewhere to focus entirely on the music. “Over the years we’ve become very comfortable in that environment, nobody felt any pressure. Plus Toddy and Matt, our drummer, are great chefs! So not only were we making music, I was getting fed too!”

The album was originally due to be released in September, however, the band decided to postpone after the very shocking and sudden news of Danielle’s death. “I think we were quite keen from quite early on since she left us that [the album] would come out,” Toddy explains. “We didn’t want to just sit on it and wait for the so-called ‘right time’. I don’t think there is a right time, we just felt that it needed to come out. We were all happy with it. It’s not like we finished it in Dani’s absence or anything.”

Following the news of her death, tributes for Danielle poured in from figures in the dance music scene, including Róisín Murphy, JD Twitch of Optimo, and Faithless’ Sister Bliss – who toured with Crazy P in 2005 and 2006. Yet what Toddy and Jim found notably overwhelming was seeing how much she meant to fans and the people that met her, outside of the industry. An influx of tributes from fans made their way to the band, many with detailed descriptions of when they met Danielle. “It’s not that we weren’t aware of how she reached and touched a lot of people, but it just became quite evident how much she gave to people,” Toddy says. “She was very generous with her time and a lot of people felt they had a connection with Danielle even though they’d only met her once just for a little chat backstage or something … to see the wider global impact she had on thousands of people is quite humbling.”

It's no wonder she left such a lasting impression on people—her infectious spirit naturally drew others to her when they first became friends. While the duo were making their way through the party scenes of Manchester and Stockport, they met Danielle on various dancefloors and at afterparties through mutual friends. “One of my earliest memories of Danielle was when we lived in this house in Stockport … and had a house party on firework night,” Jim explains. “I didn’t know who she was. The decks were set up in the front room. I was thinking ‘this is going to be great, a proper rave’. As with most house parties, everybody tuned up and went to the kitchen. I was sort of DJing to myself in the front room and this girl came in and started dancing on her own. That’s one memory I’ll never forget. She was really fucking cool and an amazing dancer.”

Toddy smiles and recounts Danielle’s charisma bringing life to the party, wherever she went; “she was just always in control of everything. She was entertaining everybody. I remember thinking God if she can sing this is amazing. And it turned out she could!”

Read this next: RIP Danielle Moore: Crazy P's beloved figurehead who personified the power of dancing

From there Danielle was invited into the group, first as a featured vocalist and then as a permanent member. That changed the course and identity of the band forever, by having Danielle’s personality and charm shine through her vocal work - and gave the group a frontwoman to boast during their live shows. “She would engage the audience in a way that I don’t think me or Jim could ever have dreamed of doing on our own,” Toddy says. He also commends her musicianship and vocal skill, adding that, without her qualities and reputation for bringing emotional depth into dance music, the band’s sound could have been unrecognisable compared to what it is today.

Growth was always a team activity for Crazy P, as Jim recalls reflecting on one of their first live gigs at Brixton’s George IV pub. “We didn’t have a clue what we were doing at that point. I think it’s fair to say Dani didn’t either,” he says. Over time they found their groove through trusting each other and allowing themselves to enjoy the process.

Last month the group played their first gig since Danielle’s passing at Hackney’s Night Tales Loft. Crazy P were billed for an all-night-long DJ set, and tickets sold out. They knew they had friends and loved ones attending the gig, and while they were excited for a fun night of music, they couldn’t help but be nervous about the possibly overwhelming number of people constantly coming up to offer condolences. “Actually for the most part people didn’t do that, but they did give a knowing smile or pat on the back, and that’s all that was needed,” Toddy says. “It was fine, it wasn’t the nightmare of someone off their face chewing your ear off.”

Jim echoes this; “I shared that concern that it would turn into this sort of wake, whereas we wanted it to be a celebration, and it had the feel of a celebration.”

Jim and Toddy will be playing a limited run of DJ shows in the coming months, including in London and Dublin, and subsequently returning to the festival circuit next summer - with slots at Gottwood and Love International already confirmed. Spreading the joy of dance music is what Danielle would have wanted, Jim says. It’s their shared love of a good time which led them to this career in the first place; “I think the lads all feel collectively that it would be a real shame if we don’t get the opportunity to play together again in some form or another.

“Danielle is irreplaceable, we know that, but it doesn’t mean down the line we can’t do something else, something different. The key for me is knowing I’ll play with the lads again. It’s like if I thought that would be the end of that, I would be gutted beyond anything. The fact we all still collectively want to play music together is a good starting point.”

Jim and Toddy are both also proud of what they have managed to achieve as a band; as being active for almost three decades, consistently getting invited to play at major worldwide festivals, scoring places in the Top 40 charts, and being a seminal part of the new disco movement is no small feat. “One thing about us all, none of us were from a pro background, we were all holding each other's hands through the whole experience,” Jim says. “There’s no egos, it was like a bunch of mates going from one experience to the next, pinching yourself sometimes going ‘bloody hell I can’t quite believe we’re doing this’.”

Moving forward, their only motto is “what would Danielle do?”, and the answer always becomes quite clear. “There’s even been talks of returning to the studio,” Toddy confirms. “When [we’re] lacking motivation, I do think about her, because she wouldn’t like that.”

‘Any Signs Of Love’ is out now via Walk Don't Walk/!K7, get it here

Aneesa Ahmed is freelance journalist, follow her on Twitter