The Balek Band continue to mesmerise

We first heard of Nantes based four-piece The Balek Band when our main-man Cosmic Benji played us their debut record. The off-kilter bass and heavy percussion of ‘Superbia’ immediately hypnotised and has been ever present in the record box since. Their second offering is bought to us by Beauty & The Beat - the eponymous label formed by the exquisitely esoteric and audio perfectionist party collective out of London.

The EP opens with ‘Tometsi’, beautifully deep, soothing and subtly psychedelic. We move into the rolling mid-tempo groove of ‘Disconiels’, with it’s rich soundscape and a characteristically haunting feel. Turn the record over and we find ‘Bayoyo Sou’, our pick from a universally excellent release.

More uptempo, the syncopated rhythm induces a floor-friendly immediacy. Exotic melodies spread over almost hidden acid textures, distant voices whisper, the music builds, drops, builds. Melancholic, driving, unusually uplifting. Buy the record here

Transported to a foreign land with familiar strangers

in the distance the heavens are lit by a mountain fire

The flames diminish

the embers glow as the smoke dissipates into the changing blue of the dying night sky.