Back Row: Daniel Gahrton, Rasmus Svale Kjærgård Lund, Özün Usta, Isak Hedtjärn, Maurice Louca
Front Row: Tommaso Cappellato, Rosa Brunello, Els Vandeweyer, Piero Bittolo Bon

Maurice Louca is and has been one of our favourite artists for a long time, be it with his solo works or with his many collaborative projects, including his trio The Dwarfs of East Agouza, multicultural collective Alif and bands like Bikya, Lekhfa and Karkhana. Louca’s previous two albums, Saet El Hazz (The Luck Hour) and Elephantine, made it our Album Picks of the Year when they came out in 2021 and 2019 respectively. So we’re truly over the moon to know that the immeasurably talented and adventurous composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer is ready to dazzle us again with a new album. Entitled Moonshine and releasing under his band name Elephantine, the new record brings together a phenomenal cast of musicians including double drummers Tommaso Cappellato and Özün Usta; Piero Bittolo Bon on alto, Daniel Gahrton on baritone and Isak Hedtjärn on clarinet; Rasmus Svale Kjærgård Lund on tuba; Rosa Brunello on bass; Els Vandeweyer on vibraphone and Louca himself on guitar/lap steel/synth.
Transcending the boundaries between various genres and cultures, including jazz, avant-rock, electronics, free improvisation, psychedelic and Middle Eastern influences, Moonshine is a triumphant, compelling, absorbing and sonically stunning record imbued with a touch of melodrama. Asher Gamedze, who penned an essay on Moonshine, describes it as “Abstract territories of freedom, always grounded, expansive, multiple, internally differentiated, and elephantine.”

We’ll have to wait until September 15th for the album to be out through Sub Rosa and Northern Spy Records but we can already get a sublime taste of what’s in store with lead track ‘Trembler’ now streaming. Here it is.

To tide you over until the album’s release, check out the excellent guest mixtape Maurice Louca put together for us back in April 2019.