Tëd ak Mame Coumba Lamba ak Mame Coumba Mbang

This album acts as a sequel to Ifriqiyya Electrique’s recordings on Glitterbeat (2017-2019), which involved a collab between Putan Club and a collective of Tunisian singers and percussionists. The Putans are a French-Italian guitar duo, sculpting a wide-vista garage rock grind, and this new venture involves a meeting with players from Senegal’s n’döep community. Once again, it’s a marriage of disparate elements to make a third entity. Singers and percussionists are recorded under what sound like vaulting arches, while the guitars are bass-crunched up close, creating a surprising harmony that melds colossal metal with ritual passion. This combination is fitting, formulating a fresh presence and power. The low-frequency drums are magnified into a ceremonial heartbeat, and the clipped, granite riffs load up the foundational weight. There’s a thrilling group percussion clatter, chanting Wolof voices maintaining a breathtaking sustain of intensity. Juggernaut guitar lines shadow the vocals, weaving around, with the placement of the riff and the repetition of its title turning ‘He Yay Naliné’ into a heavy rock anthem. This third path is not for purists, but an exciting new style is forged. The only other group working anywhere near this is Belgian trio Avalanche Kaito, also on Glitterbeat. With Ndox, we can both imagine the separate aspects, and appreciate the finished co-mingling, like a hallucinatory double vision.