Zun Zun Egui include musicians from Mauritius and Japan but are based in Bristol, and their moniker sums up their global approach to music. Like 2011’s Katang, Shackles’ Gift is world music in the truest sense.
Their cross-pollinating approach seems to try and cram everything from highlife and reggae to post-punk into a funky, rock core. There are walls of clattering drumming, euphoric chanting in what occasionally sounds like different languages, Television-type angular guitars on Tickle the Line and, at one point, what sounds like a collection of sea birds. The most conventional tracks are vaguely reminiscent of Talking Heads or PiL, while the terrific I Want You to Know offers the dizzying possibility of an Afrobeat Gang of Four. A command of melodies and songwriting ensures that it all fits together wonderfully, throwing a party for the world.
