Con-Fusion

This steel pan drummer from Trinidad was one of the founding members of cult the outfits 20th Century Steel Band and Steel An’ Skin, whose tropical dub disco anthem ‘Afro Punk Reggae’ is a deserved classic. His new album Con-Fusion comes at a time in which the distinctive tones of steel pan drums have made their way into the electronic mainstream through the likes of Jamie xx and Jacques Greene. Fimber Bravo capitalises on this moment, seeking out exciting collaborations from the worlds of electro-pop and dance.

The varied tracks here represent several directions in Bravo’s open engagement with music from around the world. The gentle samba-reggae duet with a African kora (harp) in ‘Orisha Brazil’ points to the heritage of Brazil’s Bahia state, as the musicians intone a wordless chant that rises and falls like the setting of the Brazilian sun. ‘Dimbaya’, produced by Hot Chip, is quirky lo-fi electro, whilst Bravo’s steel pan on the furtive ‘The Way We Live Today’ provides a fluid background melody for Alexis Taylor’s vulnerable, melancholy vocals. The pairings with leftfield dance producer Zongamin seem the least convincing. Taut and bracing, they are weak industrial experimentations that simply superimpose angular drum machines over Bravo’s loose meanderings. After these, ‘Ancestral Heartbeat’ brings with it added glee, with Bravo’s solo drums burbling meditatively, like the silvery reflection of the moon on a tranquil pond.