Lanmou Lanmou

Dowdelin (a play on the word ‘dawdling’) are a four-piece band based in Lyon, France, whose name is a bit of a mystery considering that their music – blending Caribbean tonalities with Afro-futurism and jazz — appears to be doing anything but dawdling. The collection of tracks on this album is dexterous to say the least; splicing together jazz and reggae, dancehall and electro, with vocals shifting between Creole French and English, there’s no shortage of variety. The album opens with the title-track, which is what I imagine Edwyn Collins’ ‘A Girl Like You’ would sound like if it was remixed by Polo & Pan; hypnotic saxophone on ‘Yo Wè’ floats over intimate percussion; and featured artist Vaudou Game lends his talents to the shuffling, jazz-inflected momentum of the track ‘Mama Wé’.

What’s most impressive on this record is Dowdelin’s ability to merge all of these contrasting influences together without ever sounding too crowded. Each instrument, each element of their songs is given ample space to be heard, none of the details are lost. That being said, at times some of their more abrupt switches between styles do feel a little like a mid-rate DJ dropping a few bars of the next track into the middle of an outro; while both parts are good individually, by the time you adjust it’s already gone.