Last month, Swiss trio Ali Dada announced the release of their new album, SUM, and shared the groovy lead single ‘tone print’. Ahead of the album’s release on September 15th through DIY label YNFND, they are teasing the record again with new single ‘federici’, named after feminist activist, writer and political theorist Silvia Federici. Take a listen now.
Photo: Lungiswa Gqunta
We first fell under Asher Gamedze‘s spell when he released his debut album, Dialectic Soul, in 2020. He followed it up with Turbulence and Pulse last year, both absolute masterpieces that made it to our Album Picks of the Year, and remain huge favourites today. So we’re over the moon to know that the visionary and virtuosic South African drummer, composer, writer and activist is gifting the world with new music. Gamedze announced today the release of Constitution, an album he brought to life with his new 10-piece ensemble The Black Lungs, featuring Ru Slayen (percussion), Sean Sanby (bass), Nobuhle Ashanti (piano), Tumi Pheko (cornet), Garth Erasmus (alto saxophone), Jed Petersen (tenor saxophone), Tina Mene (vocals), Athi Ngcaba (trombone) and Fred Moten (words). Collectively they “explore and deconstruct the conceptual, tonal and atonal possibilities of themes which are at once of old and new dreams”, as the press release describes. Gamedze offers some context:
“The Black Lungs is inspired by the revolutionary thought and practice of the Black Consciousness Movement. In particular, the relationship between antagonism – constituting a united front of all the oppressed against white supremacy and racial capitalism – and the possibilities for resistance and elaboration – the creative militant capacities of those assembled – enabled and unleashed by that process of constitution.”
Constitution will see the light of day on August 30th through International Anthem. Ahead of it he has shared the extraordinarily powerful and striking album opener ‘Find Each Other’ and it’s after your ears.
Meridian Brothers, the project of adventurous composer, multi-instrumentalist and electronics geek Eblis Álvarez, released yesterday a brand new album. Entitled Mi Latinoamérica Sufre, it sees Álvarez journey beyond Colombian and Latin American musical traditions and tap into African highlife and soukous traditions. As the press release describes, “the result is a collection of intricate compositions weaving elements of cumbia, champeta, soukous, Brazilian tropicalia, and underground psychedelic rock within the Afro-Latino guitar band format”.
Keeping the usual Meridian Brothers’ humorous tone, Mi Latinoamérica Sufre is a concept album, exploring themes of self-discovery and identity. Enhanced with visual narratives from Colombian artist Mateo Rivano, the album portrays psychological states of disorientation, self-pity, enlightenment, and optimism.
For a taster of what’s on offer, check out a couple of tracks from the album, ‘Mandala’ and ‘Sé que estoy cambiando’. Both tracks are offered with video accompaniments, the latter directed by Álvarez and ‘Mandala’ directed by Mateo Rudas & Santiago Rudas.
Mi Latinoamérica Sufre is out now through Ansonia Records and Bongo Joe.
Photo: Marie Mauve
October 25th will see the release of FOUDRE!‘s sixth album, Voltæ (Chthulucene), through Nahal Recordings and ZamZam Rec. The trio of Frédéric D. Oberland (Oiseaux-Tempête), Romain Barbot (Saåad), and Paul Régimbeau (Mondkopf) crafted a wistful and powerful “tribute to electricity and telluric forces”, as the press release describes, “a complete celebration of life, a symbiosis for an epistemic shift.” On the new album, FOUDRE!’s sound takes a post-techno turn, blending English rave, punk urgency, and electronica with traditional sounds.
Recorded in the studio for the first time, Voltæ (Chthulucene) is an electronic feat produced by sound engineer Camille Jamain. The album’s richly layered and evocative 8 tracks lead us through soundscapes that explore themes of coexistence and renewal, painting a psychedelic futuristic vision “where hybrid characters of human / machine / vegetable could start to dance, mutate, and merge within everything around them.”
The fierce and mesmeric ‘Visions from Zūrūtetsu’ is the first track to emerge from the album and you can listen to it below.
Back in May, sax superhero Colin Stetson announced the release of his new solo album, The love it took to leave you, and enticed us with its magnificent title track. The Canadian-American saxophonist, multireedist, and composer is teasing the upcoming album again with an absolute beast of a new track called ‘The Six’. “One of the first songs I wrote for this record, ‘The Six’ is a vengeful strut”, Stetson comments. “Played on solo bass saxophone, this one’s big and mean with long arms and a toothy grin.”
‘The Six’ is offered with an accompanying video directed by Derrick Belcham and you can watch it now.
The love it took to leave you is out on September 13th through Invada Records and Envision Records.
Photo: Carson Davis Brown
Photay, the alias of Los Angeles based composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, and producer Evan Shornstein, has announced the release of his fifth solo album. Entitled Windswept, it follows a string of collaborative projects, including improvisation albums with Niño and friends; More Arriving, the album he produced for London-based percussionist, producer and composer Sarathy Korwar, and WEMA, a supergroup of musicians from Tanzania and London. Slated for a September 20th release through Mexican Summer, the upcoming Windswept is an album about wind, sprouted from Photay’s intention to “mimic the ‘wind’”. As the press release describes, “the natural world had always been one of Photay’s calling cards, and now it had invaded the machine, and his writing.”
Alongside the album announcement, Photay has shared the first wondrous single, ‘Derecho’, named after a kind of severe wind storm. Speaking about it, he comments:
“There are many types of wind. Some ebb and flow while others are so large that if you listen, you may hear a low howling drone that stretches for miles in all directions. A few years ago I started recording music during a period of high springtime winds. I found myself falling under the spell of this deep, unpredictable and often overwhelming force. “Derecho” was the first of many pieces created under the direct influence of these atmospheric conditions. After several gusty seasons, a whole album was created by listening to and reckoning with these larger spirits at play.”
‘Derecho’ comes with a visual accompaniment, watch it now.
