Lulanga Tales

Veteran of the Brussels music scene since the late 1980s, multi-instrumentalist Nyati Mayi has roots in the Congo, and on a trip to his mother’s home village he acquired the harp-like stringed instrument the lulanga. This new project in collaboration with producer DJ soFa is an experiment in textures, featuring not only the lulanga but a retuned Japanese shamisen, multiple electronic sounds and Nyati’s wordless vocals.

Rhythms are shimmering during ‘Elderflower’, then jumpy and skittish on ‘Heart & Beatroot’. The almost dub-like backing production is atmospheric, but the six tracks are samey, with only ‘Jungle Dwarf’ having stuck out as being catchy. Mayi’s non-language vocals may be an acquired taste for some as well, as they tend to grate after a few tracks. This is still an album worth hearing and I liked it better on the second and third listen, but I’d be more interested to hear where the two go with their next project, expanding the sound with more variety and maybe less vocalising.