Hourglass

Description

With Hourglass, Antibalas returns to its instrumental roots. While its previous albums featured lyrics addressing topics such as patriarchy, climate change, militarism, late capitalism, oligarchy, white ethno-nationalism, and the genocide of Native Americans, this new opus rearticulates these themes through melody and rhythm. "As soon as a song has lyrics, everyone who doesn't speak that language is left out. We use rhythm and melody to translate the album's emotions and make them universally accessible," explains Martin Perna, co-producer and founder of the band. The album is built on compositions written by several current and former band members. Hourglass opens with a mournful and ecstatic tenor saxophone solo before plunging into an intense 12/8 groove. With "Lo-Life," the band demonstrates its ability to swing like Machito or Ghanaian dance band leaders of the 1970s such as Guedu Blay-Ambolley. Other tracks, such as "Solace," "Escape," and "La Ceiba," evoke the classic Afrobeat sounds of Lagos, but with a Brooklyn twist. Finally, "Oasis," the album's closing track, opens a door to an unknown psychedelic future, where liberating funk remains at the heart of the sonic experience.