Afro-funk band Ibibio Sound Machine have been around since 2013. The London group are best known for blending disco, post-punk, west African funk and electronic music into euphoric, high-energy soundscapes that feel borderless. Their latest album, Electricity, is produced by synthpop stalwarts Hot Chip and offers their most kaleidoscopic project to date. It’s got the same vibrancy, heart-thumping beats and empowered Ibibio and English vocals, but the songs reach new heights both lyrically and instrumentally.
The album opens with the punchy Protection From Evil in which frontwoman Eno Williams sings with a fiery delivery atop a razor-sharp synth line and angsty beat. The Afro-disco title track is rich, with a deep and heavy bassline. Its lyrics might be simple – “Without love, there’s no electricity” – but they stick.
While the album is full of jumpy electro grooves, the jazzy horns and west African drums rippling throughout Oyoyo make it the most danceable track. On another highlight, Afo Ken Doko Mien, you can hear the unrefined emotion in Williams’s tone. With its atmospheric melody and operatic harmonies, it’s a truly evocative listen.
