Reviewed by Paul S Ganney

The Croydon-based duo have found their own particular niche in wedding ethnic music from around the world to electronic rhythms. Rhythmically looping, instrumentally manifold and sonically extremely varied, this album reminded me in places of Lemon Jelly with some dub reggae bass lines thrown in for good measure. There's no lyrics (aside from the spoken samples in "Cairo In The War" and the strange vocal in "Barsoom" which seems to be chanting "Officer Dibble") making this more an album to immerse yourself in than sit down and listen to. Each track is quite long, giving the band time to develop their ideas and the listener time to absorb it. Some of the instrument selection is unusual but in the context of the track works perfectly (e.g. "Hakim" with its slightly buzzy lead line and "Citadel Of Dust" with a scratched sound that made me think of dogs barking). Overall there's a mid-paced Middle Eastern vibe to the tracks. I've seen their sound described as transglobal breakbeat dub science and I can't disagree with that. It's not an album I'd turn to a lot but if The Archives are your kind of thing, you have probably already investigated this 2019 release.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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