Se Nou Ki La!

The word hardcore is often applied to denote a style that contains a strong message. Se Nou Ki La! is perhaps the first international release of hardcore Haitian roots music, an intense, hypnotic mixture of drums and call-and-response vocals, recorded in the remote Petite Riviere Bayonnais, a village where the soul of voodoo holds tight. Despite tragedies a plenty and endemic poverty, Haitians passionately observe their national religion, where trance music performs a vital function.

Chouk Bwa Libète, who formed in 2012, execute Kongo, Nago and Dahomean rhythms from West and Central Africa, which still hold sway in the group's native Gonaives province. Using Haitian patois, band leader Sanbaton Dorvil's chants are full of voodoo references. On ‘Moun Yo Pale’, over hectic drums and accompanied by a family of singers, he tells his people ‘to beware of those who speak badly of us,’ a reference to the prejudices many voodoo practitioners face. Anger lurks close to the surface on this mesmeric disc, while hope and exhilaration keep the spirits in check. This is hardcore voodoo music for sure, but first and foremost it is strong medicine from a community resisting erosion of their core values.