Tag Archives: Black Flower

Black Flower tease upcoming album with lead single ‘Monkey System’ ft. Meskerem Mees

01 November 2024

There’s exciting new from Belgian quintet Black Flower, who are gearing up to release a new album in the new year. Entitled Kinetic, it follows their 2022 Magma, and arrives on January 31st through Sdban Ultra. There’s still a long wait ahead but the collective are teasing the album now with a brilliant and boisterous lead single called ‘Monkey System’ featuring singer-songwriter Meskerem Mees. The title takes its inspiration from the parable of the monkey whereby the monkey is lured by bait inside a hole, it reaches for it with a clenched fist and can’t get the food out without letting go of it. When danger approches, the monkey chooses to hold on to the food rather than letting go of it and gets trapped. The track “is a reflection on this state of mind, and by extension, a poignant metaphor for the human condition”, as the press release explains, and it “mirrors a deeper truth: our tendency to cling to desires that ultimately hold us back.”

Here’s ‘Monkey System’, give it a listen now.

Mixtape #148

01 June 2023


June is here and what better way to set the mood than with our monthly mixtape, this time round kindly curated by Belgian quartet Echoes of Zoo, who released last month an electrifying and exhilarating second album, Speech of Species. Founded by multi-instrumentalist and composer Nathan Daems, and also comprising Bart Vervaeck, Lieven Van Pée and Falk Schrauwen, the band experiments with a dense jungle of sounds and influences as diverse as psychedelic jazz, Eastern and Balkan sounds, West African grooves, dub and rock, with a punk attitude underpinning their approach to music. We’re ecstatic they put together this amazing genre-spanning mix, giving nods to the impressive diversity of influences at play in their music.

  1. Danyel Waro – Aneil [Cobalt]
  2. Ramiro Musotto – Majno Ma Bi [Los Años Luz Discos / Hélico]
  3. Black Flower – Deep Dive Down [Sdban Ultra]
  4. Orchestra Gold – Mako Diyara
  5. Echoes of Zoo – Different Frequencies [W.E.R.F.]
  6. Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force – Lamb Ji (feat. Mbene Diatta Seck) [Ndagga]
  7. Echoes of Zoo – Bee Jive [W.E.R.F.]
  8. Trance Plantations – Itinerary for a Blood Cell [W.E.R.F.]
  9. The Comet Is Coming – Birth of Creation [Impulse!]
  10. STUFF. – Slug [Sdban Ultra]
  11. Black Flower – Worshipper (Origami 3) [Zephyrus]
  12. Trance Plantations – It’s Alive
  13. Antonis Diamantidis Dalgas – Tis Xenitias O Ponos

Black Flower preview upcoming album with title track ‘Magma’

27 November 2021

After sharing ‘O Fogo’, Black Flower are giving us another excellent reason to be excited for their upcoming album, Magma, with its title track unveiled as the second single. They comment:

“We present this latest single as a metaphor for what is to come – moments in time when music comes to the surface taking a concrete form, shared and used to amplify the beauty of life. Being the title track of the upcoming album it reflects a boiling, churning, silent energy. It is the core, the source. It is a state between solid and liquid and represents ancient energy and new potential. The track. An arching melody from the cornet gives way to an eruptive solo on baritone sax.”

Listen to ‘Magma’ below and grab the album when it’s out on January 28th through Sdban Ultra.

Black Flower announce new album, Magma, and share first single ‘O Fogo’

11 November 2021

Black Flower are a Belgian collective captained by brilliant saxophonist, flutist and composer Nathan Daems, a musician who has shown his style and versatility in various projects like Ragini Trio, the Karsilama Quintet, Dijf Sanders and Antwerp Gipsy-Ska Orkestra. Exploring everything from Ethio jazz and afrobeat to psychedelia, western musical traditions and oriental influences, the quintet comprises four other adventurous musicians of the highest calibre, Jon Birdsong (dEUS, Beck, Calexico) on cornet, Simon Segers (Absynthe Minded, De Beren Gieren, MDCIII) on drums, Filip Vandebril (Lady Linn, The Valerie Solanas) on bass, and as of recently Karel Cuelenaere (John Ghost) on keys.

With a new full length on the way, there’s reason to celebrate. Entitled Magma, the album arrives on January 28th through Sdban Ultra and along with the news, Black Flower have shared the first thrilling single, ‘O Fogo’. The band comments:

“Organ and flute move like a dancing flame to the almost naive groove, giving the track a feeling of lightness and positivity. We imagine us to be crossing nature, slightly unprepared, excited to go on an adventure and eager to be stunned by everything we see. The track is named after the Capeverdian volcano and translates as ‘The Fire’.”

‘O Fogo’ comes with an accompanying video made by Philippe Werkers. Watch it now.