Asher Gamedze announces new LP, Constitution, with his new 10-piece ensemble The Black Lungs

16 July 2024

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’s new album, Mi Latinoam​é​rica Sufre, out now

13 July 2024

Meridian Brothers, the project of adventurous composer, multi-instrumentalist and electronics geek Eblis Álvarez, released yesterday a brand new album. Entitled Mi Latinoam​é​rica 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 Latinoam​é​rica Sufre is out now through Ansonia Records and Bongo Joe.

FOUDRE! to release new album, Voltæ (Chthulucene), in October

12 July 2024

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.

Colin Stetson shares second single, ‘The Six’, from upcoming The love it took to leave you LP

10 July 2024

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.

Photay announces new solo album, Windswept, and shares lead single ‘Derecho’

09 July 2024

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.

Laurence Pike unveils first single from upcoming new album, The Undreamt-Of Centre

05 July 2024

Photo: Traianos Pakioufakis

We’re thrilled to know that Laurence Pike is back with a new album entitled The Undreamt-of Centre. A relentless drummer, phenomenal improviser and inventive composer, he has been dazzling us for the last two decades, both with his solo projects and various bands and collaborations, and the upcoming album is no exception. We are actually totally blown away by this one. Described as his most ambitious project to date, The Undreamt-of Centre is a contemporary reimagining of the requiem mass and features the VOX Sydney Philharmonia Choir, a 12-piece chamber choir conducted by Pike’s childhood friend, composer Sam Lipman. Recorded in a 19th century Gothic church in Sydney, the album draws influences spanning from the sounds of modern classical music, Japanese environmental ambient music, fourth world electronics and free jazz through to the choral traditions of Estonia, particularly from Tallinn-based composer Tonu Korvits.

On the forthcoming The Undreamt-of Centre, Pike noted:

“I first had the thought of working with voices a number of years ago. I had the strange notion of making a requiem mass for drums, electronics and choir. It sat with me since then, until it felt the time was right to realise the idea.

Why a requiem? Initially I simply liked the idea of a structural format that had existed and been reimagined again and again over hundreds of years. Ultimately, it’s a ritual set to music. The processes and ecstatic outcomes of rituals, were something I had explored in making the Holy Spring album in 2019. I became interested in subverting the religious musical construct of a requiem into something far more contemporary, using language and sounds not readily associated with it. It also seemed a ready-made vehicle to explore the sound of a choir with my electro-acoustic drum kit performances.”

We´ll have to wait untl September 6th for the album to be out through The Leaf Label but we can already hear the moving and majestic first single, ‘Introit’.