Photo: Andreas Staebler

After debuting their single ‘Toutpartout PT2’ two years ago, Bella Wakame are gearing up to release their first proper studio album. Andi Haberl and Florian Zimmer, the pair behind the project, have distilled the energy and improvisational spirit of a 2024 live recording (captured in Berlin at Donau115 and Silent Green) into their debut self-titled debut album. The record explores the unpredictable and exhilarating interplay between Haberl’s sensory percussion and Zimmer’s modular synthesizer. Reveling in their musical freedom, the pair have created a sound that is both frenzied and freeing, fresh and untamed, setting it apart from their work with other projects like The Notwist, SUN, Saroos, and Driftmachine. Drawing inspiration from acts like Bitchin Bajas, Jeremiah Chiu, and Groupshow (Jelinek, Leichtmann, Pekler), the ten tracks on Bella Wakame’s upcoming album move “restlessly between motorik club, electro-acoustic jazz experiments, ambient excursions, and fast-paced instrumental anthems that seem to explode at the seams”, as the press release describes.

Ahead of the album’s release on May 30th through Umor Rex, Bella Wakame are giving us a taste of what’s to come with their first single, ‘Shades of Nambei’. The single is offered with an accompanying video made by Daniel Castrejón and Florian Zimmer and you can watch it below.