Walls Have Ears

Veteran collective Transglobal Underground have morphed and changed in the years since this writer followed their Pied Piperish lead from festival to festival, happening to happening in the 1990s. Touting a cosmic mix of dubtronica, soul, and rap alongside Asian, African and Eastern European grooves, they've been a band, a production team and a set of DJs, identity shifts that have kept them fresh, in flux, ever creative and agitating. Here, once more a band, they come full circle, reclaiming original members – vocalist Natacha Atlas and bassist Dubulah (aka Nick ‘Dub Colossus’ Page) – and stoking the flame that has burned through a wealth of acclaimed albums. Themes are both serious and joyous; tripping from London to Paris, for example, has never felt so exhilarating. Like the special guests, stand-out tunes are many. ‘Ruma Jhuma’ features the inspired pairing of Egyptian-British Atlas and UK-based singer and sitarist Sheema Mukherjee, both improvising, the former's crystalline Arabic curlicues vying and blending with the latter's sweet, high pitched Hindi. ‘Stand Up (Nifhamou)’ combines North African trance with on-the-fly vocalese from Atlas, with features from Algerian singer Sofiane Saidi and Moncef Hakim from Lyon-based Oriental scientists Mazalda. ‘Mind the Gap’, a tribute to the Central Line, is a whirl of upbeat vibes and fizzing possibility. Another under-the-radar gem.