Yesterday saw the release of LEGNA, the collaborative album from two stellar acts, London based psychedelic funk jazz collective The Heliocentrics and LA based DJ / producer William Bensussen aka The Gaslamp Killer.
In the works for many years, LEGNA “showcases the Heliocentrics’ ability to effortlessly blend genres”, as the press release describes, “while GLK’s ear for rare and eclectic sounds further cements his status as one of the most innovative producers around.”
The album is out now through Cuss Records as a limited edition 12″ LP and for a taste of what’s on offer, check out the cosmic and infectious ‘Punks’.
A household name in his native Portugal, João Cabrita‘s work includes stints as musician, composer, arranger and producer with a plethora of bands for more than three decades. Three years on from the release of his eponymous debut album, he is gearing up to release a second record later in the year. Whilst more details are yet to emerge, Cabrita has today shared a scorching new cut titled ’49th birthday blues’. Written the day he turned 49, the track reflects and explores the fleeting moments of time and life. Cabrita comments:
“In this mix of emotions, between the joy of another time in the sun, but also some loneliness and the inevitability of accepting this slow process that is getting old, I got out of bed, let the summer sun enter the house, took my saxophone and wrote this theme.”
’49th birthday blues’ is offered with a brilliant animated video by Bartosz Stępnik and you can watch it below.
There’s exciting news from camp Bongo Joe who have today released a new single from two adventurous outfits, Bogota’s Meridian Brothers and Geneva’s Cyril Cyril. Cyril Cyril toured South America recently and whilst in Colombia, the Swiss duo spent a day at the legendary Mambo Negro studio recording with Meridian Brothers and guests Frente Cumbiero, Conjunto Media Luna and Susobrino. A 2-track 7” vinyl is the fruit of this special collaboration, described as “explosive, somewhere between Brazilian tropicalism, Andean dizziness and the spontaneous colliding of Western & Eastern styles”. Cyril Yeterian comments:
“Many years of collaboration between my label Bongo Joe and the Bogotá music scene made me dream about a session together at the legendary Mambo Negro Records. Everyone was there! Eblis “Meridian Brothers » Alvarez obviously but we were amazed to see so many artists we admire just add their touch to our recordings as they passed by! The session went so well that we decided to keep the sound as natural as possible with very little, if any effects.”
The EP arrives on September 15th but today Meridian Brothers & Cyril Cyril have unveiled one of the tracks, the playful, scorching and colourful ‘Diablos De Chuao’. Here it is.
Spanish quartet Melenas are back with a third album, following 2020’s Dias Raros. Entitled Ahora, which translate as ‘Now’, the record sees them trying to uphold “the importance of time, to reflect on how we live our everyday lives, with whom we share our moments and how we want (or don’t want) to do it”, as they put it themselves. The Pamplona band aims to “convey a moment of halting and reflecting on the present to know what we want to remain and what we need to leave behind”.
Ahora arrives on September 29th through Trouble in Mind and ahead of it they have shared ‘Bang’ as the first brilliant and thrilling single. The track is offered with an accompanying video directed by Iker Insausti. Shot in a single sequence, the video features all four members, Oihana, Leire, María and Laura, and you can watch it below.
‘Reverse Invisible’ is the third new single lifted from Ursa Major Moving Group‘s upcoming self-titled debut album. On the new track, Ursula Russell, the London based multi-instrumentalist, composer and writer behind the project, delves into the theme of “alienation from belonging”, as she puts it recalling her own childhood alienation memories:
“I was a school refuser … I would lie in bed and feel like I could not even get up. It’s a child feeling like a total freak, going “Oh my god! What is this world? I’m too sensitive for this!”.
An utterly gorgeous and gripping ballad, ‘Reverse Invisible’ is a flood of emotions. Listen to it now and grab the album when it drops on June 9th through Faith & Industry Records.
Hot on the heels of her recently released self-titled debut album, St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador based Portuguese songwriter Nico Paulo has unleashed a video to accompany the gorgeous ‘The Master’. Of the video and track, Paulo had this to say:
“Evoking romantic renaissance met with the natural elements around St. John’s, Newfoundland and a favourite beach in Portugal we gathered memories from a period of emotional intensity and recreated the sleepovers, the bonding around a fire, the laughter and tears, the hikes, the tireless chats and the time holding space for vulnerability and holding each other. This music video doesn’t just recreate human connection, sisterhood, empathy and heartbreak in an elegant way, but aspires for the observation of our surroundings and connection to space and nature. To stop and pay attention for a moment. The strength alive in the escarpment walls and the fragility of our fragmented memories of peace and ease can lead us.
‘The Master’ the song is largely about mastery over one’s own feelings. It’s an inquisitive song more than anything else as it looks to understand how people around you live and feel. In those times of upheaval where your feelings threaten to overcome you, this song looks to others and their ability to keep it together. It doesn’t tell us which way is better, it simply looks to encourage belief and change in ourselves, curiosity and intrigue in what’s to come, and the power of being honest.”
Jamie Miller and Nico Paulo directed the video and you can watch it now.
saw the release of LEGNA, the collaborative album from two stellar acts, London based psychedelic funk jazz collective The Heliocentrics and LA based DJ / producer William Bensussen aka The Gaslamp Killer.
