God Gave Me Feet For Dancing (feat. Yazmin Lacey)

Ezra Collective turns dancing into a communal credo

A dance-floor invitation can also be a statement about belonging. On ‘God Gave Me Feet For Dancing’, Ezra Collective pair the London group’s buoyant jazz-funk with Yazmin Lacey’s soulful vocal, framing movement as a way to shake off the pressure of ordinary life and gather with other people. Drummer Femi Koleoso has explicitly connected the idea to the band members’ church upbringing and to the biblical image of David dancing before the Lord. That background gives the song’s refrain a spiritual charge without making it solemn: its bassline, groove and repeated calls to dance are built for collective release.

The single arrived on 18 June 2024 as the second preview of *Dance, No One’s Watching*, the band’s third studio album, released that September. Ezra Collective described the album as an ode to dancing and an account of dance floors they encountered while touring. Lacey’s contribution is central to this track’s character: her phrasing sits comfortably inside the band’s shifting rhythm, sounding less like a guest laid over a jazz arrangement than a voice moving with the ensemble. The song’s brightness is therefore not only a production choice; it is the means by which the band turns their reflections on community and spirituality into an accessible, physical groove.

The single reached No. 43 on the UK Official Singles Sales and Downloads charts, a useful but specific measure of its release-period reach; that is not the same as a No. 43 peak on the main UK singles chart. Stereogum described the track as having a ‘tasteful yet intoxicating vibe’ and highlighted Lacey’s vocal, while the band’s album followed a major career milestone: *Where I’m Meant To Be* had won the 2023 Mercury Prize, making Ezra Collective the first jazz act to take the award. Those album and career achievements provide context, but this song’s own appeal is more immediate: it makes dancing sound at once pleasurable, social and sustaining.