Photo: Christopher Hargreaves

A innovative force within London’s experimental music scene, Qwalia is an improvisational psychedelic-jazz quartet led by drummer Yusuf Ahmed, known for his work with Joy Crookes and Anoushka Shankar, and also featuring a lineup of seasoned musicians including Ben Reed on bass (Frank Ocean, David Byrne, Richard Russell’s Everything Is Recorded), Tal Janes on guitar (Jordan Rakei, Cherise, Waaju), and Joseph Costi on keys and synths (Cat Stevens, Tom Herbert, Heidi Vogel).

They made a splash last year with their debut album, Sound And Reason, which, sadly, slipped under our radar. A year on, and now firmly on our radar, Qwalia have new music on the way, recorded in a two-day session at the Fish Factory in Willesden, West London. Despite its improvisational nature, their pieces feel meticulously composed.

Whilst they are yet to unveil more details about an upcoming second album, Qwalia have just released their latest sonic masterpiece, ‘Omega’, through Albert’s Favourites. As the press release describes, the new single “is the very definition of a slow burn, emerging from the quiet pulses of a drum machine, the band lock quickly into Ben Reed’s lyrical bass line in a brooding but ever expanding ascent that you feel could confidently journey onwards forever”. Listen to it below.