Review | Songlines

Voodoo Beat

Rating: ★★★★

View album and artist details

Album and Artist Details

Artist/band:

nemanja

Label:

nemanja

October/2023

nemanja want to take you on a trip – a trip to the underworld. In this retelling of the ancient myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, nemanja recounts being stranded in the netherworld with a vodoun priestess in tow. It's up to you, the listener – read liner notes – ‘to help nemanja transcend into our world by playing this record and be[ing] possessed by nemanja's spirit!’ Normally I wouldn’t be up to an invitation like this. But as Voodoo Beat gets underway, it becomes clear that nemanja's mission is really nothing more and nothing less than getting you to move your ass. Think ‘Black Magic Woman’ in Croatian, with beats and ratcheted up a notch – nemanja takes a tip from cumbia and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, intertwining surf guitar, synth interplay, keening pipes, hand clapping with driving rhythms and high-pitched, s-style (mainly inscrutable) vocals. On the whole, nemanja's sombre concept and dreary titles with names like ‘Zle Oči’ (Evil Eye), ‘Tropical Sheitan’ (Tropical Satan) and ‘Noćni Leptiri’ (Night Butterflies) are at odds with the relentlessly upbeat nature of most of these tracks. Forget about dark and mystifying moods, Voodoo Beat is music to get down to.

At times one wishes for even more multi-textured variation, psychedelia and distortion, maybe even an ethno twist at some point. nemanja, however, have found their groove and stick to it tenaciously through these ten mainly simmering tracks.

Subscribe from only £7.50

Start your journey and discover the very best music from around the world.

Subscribe

View the Current
Issue

Take a peek inside the latest issue of Songlines magazine.

Find out more