Another Good Friday feat Ibibio Sound Machine, Leyla McCalla & Afro Celt Sound System | Songlines
Friday, February 2, 2024

Another Good Friday feat Ibibio Sound Machine, Leyla McCalla & Afro Celt Sound System

Brand new music from Ibibio Sound Machine, Leyla McCalla and Afro Celt Sound System, all of whom have announced albums for release in 2024

IBIBIO 58

Ibibio Sound Machine (photo by Matilda Hill-Jenkins)

It's been an exciting week for music with three of our favourite artists all announcing new albums to be released this year, with the first tasters of those albums being shared too.

Ibibio Sound Machine 'Got To Be Who You Are'

London's finest Afrofuturists have got a new album, Pull The Rope, coming out May 3 on Merge, and here's the first taster. It's very much a paean to singer Eno Williams' Nigerian roots, beginning as it does with a mbira rhythm and with a chorus that lists the areas of Nigeria where Williams grew up ("Surulere, Isale Eko, Ikoyi, Yaba"), but it also represents everything we love about this band with their unapologetic love for electro, disco and letting oneself go.

Leyla McCalla 'Scaled to Survive'

A dreamy, poetic first single here from McCalla's upcoming Sun Without the Heat album - coming out April 12 via ANTI-. It's a track about being connected to our parents, inspired by Undrowned, a book by Alexis Pauline Gumbs that looks at the behaviours of marine mammals as a lesson for humans. Keeping with the theme, the video features McCalla's own children and friends. Also worth checking out 'Tree', another track from the album released this week that ventures into more psychedelic waters.

Afro Celt Sound System 'Magical Love'

Those sneaksters at Afro Celt Sound System started the new year by teasing they had a new album coming out. Seems they were not joking as the first single is here. Featuring vocals from Ríoghnach Connolly and Djekoria Fanta, it's a heck of a return to form. We can't wait to hear what's next!

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