Welcome to the new music review where we connect you with some of the best new music spinning on Breakfast, The Daily and Drive programs.

ALBUMS:

Partner Look – By the Book FEATURE ALBUM
Abiodun Oyewole – Gratitude
Animal collective – Time Skiffs
Combo Chimbita – IRE
Josephine Foster – Godmother
Pom Poko – This is our House EP
Silverbacks – Archive Material
Vietnam – This Quiet room

SINGLES:

Black Seeds – Bring the Sun
Jamaica Moana – CYA
Laraland – Passing Grey
Loose Fit – Social graces
Papercuts – The strange boys
Pleasures – Beginning of the end
Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears – Saturday Drive
Soft Powder – Running through the dark
The Smile – The Smoke

Combo Chimbita‘s third album. IRE, continues the New York-based groups journey through the dynamic rhythms of cumbia and soul. Revitalising the traditional drumming techniques of the Caribbean and West Africa , it simultaneously taps into the spirit of psychadelia and the liberation politics of those regions for a modern context.

Central to the bands ethos is the transnational concept of Abya Yala (coincidentally the name of their first album), wherein “Music is a tool of connection across time, territory and generations,”. It is also rooted in a solidarity with the struggles of indigenous peoples worldwide, and retrieving the names and identities of regions lost to colonisation. 

The writing of the album in mid 2020 in Puerto Rico and Colombia gave this immediacy, as they saw firsthand the reality of imperial connections to the USA.  Meanwhile the Black Lives Matters protests played out on video streams, giving further fire to their dissidence and pursuit of transformation through music.

The soaring presence of Carolina Oliveros on vocals (and guacharaca) is a powerful companion throughout, as the interplay of percussion, synthesisers and guitar drive this into seriously accomplished musical territory. Ranging from the mournfully sad to wildly upbeat, it taps into a rich tapestry of otherworldly sounds. A beautiful record. 

Out now on Anti

It should be safe to say 37 years is above the average time most bands give themselves to come up with their second album.

Billed as a final statement, the sophomore LP from Vietnam, This Quiet Room is an outstanding combination of harmonious, energetic rock and new wave anxiety.

Formed in high school at  Wainuiomata College, Wellington, in 1981, they were at the forefront of the nascent punk scene in New Zealand and toured frequently.  This eventually culminated in the release of their first, and self-titled, EP in 1985. They disbanded shortly after, and the record gradually became the domain of collectors and deep digging fans.

An expanded reissue in 2016 by BFE Records, combined with a “one-off” reunion show set things in motion for a return.

The starkness and sharp driven angst of What have I done and Whispers to Ignore are among the most memorable and will invite comparisons to Joy Division. Other standouts include their extended cover of Wire’s Kidney Bingoes, and album opener In another desert.

And there are many occasions listening to this where you may have to remind yourself that this is in fact not itself a reissue of a long lost grail. And many of the songs are renditions of songs that were hitherto only performed as part of their live show. There is an authentic rawness in the sound here, and a time-capsuled youthful energy that comes through in the music.

It certainly was worth the wait.

Out Now (Independant) on Vinyl and Digital : https://vietnamnz.bandcamp.com/album/this-quiet-room

The continuing influence of Harlem’s The Last Poets on music cannot be overstated, from Gil-Scott-Heron to Public Enemy, as their relentless delivery of politically charged storytelling laid the template for generations of hip hop and beyond.

Abiodun Oyewole is the last surviving member from their founding in 1968. Imbued with the wisdom of life-long activism and performance, his latest carries that ethos further in this, hist first album under his own name since 1995’s 25 years.

Looking forward, Gratitude marries the distinctive spoken-word style of beat poetry with modern rap and neo-soul influenced production. Live playing meshes with mpc-style beat mashing, as well as references to the sample palettes of golden-era hip hop.

Lyrically dense, this is filled with reflections on spirituality, social justice and hometown tributes (Harlem and Brooklyn).

Highlights include collaborations with Ade da Poet,  Mosi and Jessica Care Moore.

The album closer What I want to see is a throwback in style to the minimalist Last Poets template, with a stripped back percussive drum the sole accompaniment to a biting missive on the desire for a better world for all.

Out Now (Vinyl and Digital) on Afar Records