Name: Electricity
Brand: Ibibio Sound Machine

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

MRG765

Colour

White

Colour details

Yellow / Black / White Tri-Colour

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: Yes

Extended format

Extended format: Yes

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2022-12-09

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Cargo DIRECT Ltd.

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

673855076539

Total Cap

1 / LP

MRG765LP

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Black

[r22662926]

Download code: Yes

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format: No

Housed in Gatefold Sleeve.

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2022-03-25

Cargo

0673855076515

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1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

MRG765CD

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Housed in Gloss Wallet.

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0673855076522

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Ibibio Sound Machine

Genre GB

Electronic

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

Merge Records

Ibibio Sound Machine is a unique blend of African and electronic music, led by London-born Nigerian singer Eno Williams. Their sound is influenced by the vibrant funk and disco era of West-Africa, as well as modern post-punk and electro genres.

The band consists of talented musicians including Eno Williams on vocals, Alfred Kari Bannerman on guitar, Anselmo Netto on percussion, Jose Joyette on drums, John McKenzie on bass, Tony Hayden on trombone and synth, Scott Baylis on trumpet and synth, and Max Grunhard on saxophone and synth.

With their captivating fusion of traditional African rhythms and contemporary electronic elements, Ibibio Sound Machine creates an exhilarating musical experience that will leave you wanting more.

Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. Founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan, it started as a platform to release music from their band Superchunk and their friends' creations. Over the years, Merge Records has grown to include talented artists from all over the world, with some of their records even reaching the top of the Billboard music charts.
With its headquarters nestled in Durham, North Carolina, Merge Records has become a renowned name in the music industry. The label was established by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan back in 1989 with a vision to share their own musical endeavors as well as support fellow musicians within their circle.
What began as a humble endeavor quickly flourished into something much greater. Today, Merge Records boasts an impressive roster of artists spanning various genres and backgrounds. From indie rock to experimental pop, *Superchunk* paved the way for other talented musicians to join forces under this esteemed label's umbrella.

Vinyl variants, bonus material and signed editions exclusively available from Rough Trade.

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Even in trying times, “there is no love without electricity.” Electricity is the fourth and most progressive album from Ibibio Sound Machine, and like all good Afrofuturist stories, it begins with an existential crisis. “It’s darker than anything we’ve done previously,” says Eno Williams, the group’s singer. “That’s because it grew out of the turbulence of the past year. It inhabits an edgier world.”

Electricity was produced by the Grammy Award and Mercury Prize nominated British synthpop group Hot Chip, a collaboration born out of mutual admiration watching each other on festival stages, as well as a shared love of Francis Bebey and Giorgio Moroder. The fruits of their labor reveal a gleaming, supercharged, Afrofuturist blinder. Electricity is the first album Ibibio Sound Machine have made with external producers since the group’s formation in London in 2013 by Williams and saxophonist Max Grunhard. True, 2017’s Uyai featured mixdown guests including Dan Leavers, aka Danalogue, the keyboard jedi in future-jazz trio The Comet Is Coming, but Hot Chip and Ibibio Sound Machine worked together more deeply throughout the process, collaborating fully. Along the way, the team conjured a kaleidoscope of delights that include resonances of Jonzun Crew, Grace Jones, William Onyeabor, Tom Tom Club, Kae Tempest, Keith LeBlanc, The J.B.’s, Jon Hassell’s “Fourth World,” and Bootsy Collins.

The hook of opener “Protection From Evil” has Williams wielding a massive synth line from Hot Chip’s Al Doyle like a spiritual shield against unspecified, malign forces unspecified because Williams is speaking in tongues. Her lyrics are onomatopoeic: their meaning is defined in her energetic delivery. As Electricity takes off, so do Williams’ words towards a brighter future, alternating between English and Ibibio, sometimes within verses, and propelled by Joseph Amoako’s unabating afrobeat. She digs into this sentiment further on single “All That You Want,” coolly assuring her romantic interest while also requesting reciprocity. Meanwhile, Scott Baylis’ playful Juno synth guides the listener’s feet along the dancefloor.

Electricity is a deep and seamless realization of Williams’ and Grunhard’s ambitious founding manifesto to combine the singularly rhythmic character of the Ibibio language which Williams spoke growing up in Nigeria with a range of traditional West African music and more modern electronic sounds. While the band enjoys veering further into electronic territory with the help of mutuals like Hot Chip, Grunhard emphasizes, “For us, it’s not just a matter of embracing new technology. What’s key is to keep the music grounded in African roots.” Ibibio Sound Machine best exemplify this on Electricity’s “Freedom.” That track was inspired by the water-drumming rhythms of Cameroon’s Baka women, which in turn fueled its lyrics, which in turn prompted Hot Chip and Ibibio Sound Machine to layer joyfully kinetic electronic counterparts on top in the studio. As the track culminates with the mantra of “rage, hope, cope, soul,” it’s clear that Ibibio Sound Machine have channeled, harnessed, and distilled these words as guiding principles, both for the album and for the turbulent world that awaits it.

Electricity

Music GB

Buy Ibibio Sound Machine - Electricity (Vinyl, CD) now from Rough Trade - independent purveyors of great music, since 1976.