The Heliocentrics‘ outstanding 13 Degrees of Reality was one of our Album Picks of 2013. So we couldn’t be more excited to know that the London based psychedelic funk jazz collective have been busy working on a collaborative album with Nigerian saxophone legend Orlando Julius. Jaiyede Afro, recorded at The Heliocentrics’ fully analogue studio in London, arrives on September 8th via Strut.
According to the label, “on Jaiyede Afro, Julius takes us back to his roots, revisiting several compositions from his early years which have never previously been recorded”, whilst “the band takes Orlando’s sound into new, progressive directions, retaining the raw grit of his early work and adding psychedelic touches and adventurous new arrangements”.

To get us excited for this release, they’ve shared the first taste off Jaiyede Afro, ‘Buje Buje’. Here’s what Orlando Julius said about the track:

“My parents used to tell us stories, folk tales and there were a lot of different stories involving tortoises – they often made tortoises sound like human beings. There was one about a tortoise who had a farm and I always thought, ‘how could a tortoise have a farm?!’ This tortoise is working on his farm and a pretty lady is passing by. So, he cuts his foot with his cutlass and pretends that he is injured so that he can get her attention. The lady comes over and tries to help him and he says, ‘I can’t work with this cut. Could I climb on your back to go to get help?’ She agrees, he climbs on her back and she starts to walk. He says, ‘I’m too far up, could you push me further down your back?’ Finally, the lady realises that he is up to no good, she is very unhappy and tells him to find his own way. Once she has left, the tortoise continues to play this trick on other women.
I made the story into a song and brought human nature into it — good people and bad people. The song teaches us not to copy something that is bad, fake or deceptive.”

Take a listen to ”Buje Buje’ now.