Ocupai

In 2011, Afrobeat chronicler Dr Carlos Moore predicted that Brazil would be ‘the next Afrobeat world capital.’ Exaggerated though it may prove to be, his observation was prescient. That year saw the release of a series of records saturated with Afrobeat syncopation, including André Abujamra's Mafaro and Bixiga 70's eponymous first album. Vintage Afrobeat is now one of the sounds of new Brazil, championed by myriad artists such as the Abayomy Afrobeat Orquestra, and permeating records by popular singers like Criolo.

Ocupai sees Bixiga 70 go beyond Afrobeat to focus particularly on Africa's encounter with Brazil. Tracks like ‘Deixa a Gira Girá’ are thick with the grooves and busy staccato brass of Afrobeat, while others like ‘Kalimba’ feel more East African, with wispy guitar threads and springy bass. ‘Isa’ has a slow, lambent melody and subtly shifting harmonies that hint at vintage Hermeto Pascoal. The album is entirely instrumental. But it is infectious nonetheless and should prove popular from Dalston dance floors to the joss-stick-scented living rooms of jazz fans.