Quiet Storm

Description

Space Afrika, the duo based in Manchester and Berlin composed of Joshua Tarelle Reid and Joshua Inyang, creates raw music, rich in detail and visceral, with shades of ambient, trip-hop, techno, and modern classical music, drawing from the contours of their city to create vast urban landscapes of dub. "Quiet Storm" expands their sound universe and scope, offering a collaborative and tentacular vision shaped with deep intention, integrating their own coming-of-age story within a moving suite of cathartic abstractions. The tracks allude to spirituality and the human condition, to the tension between boldness and softness, ambition and persistent inner demons. Quiet Storm is a response to the duo's journey since the release of Honest Labour in 2021. The involvement of renowned artist Glenn Ligon, whose work addresses themes of Black identity and queerness, speaks to the multidisciplinary nature of the project. A major source of inspiration from the beginning of the recording, Ligon proposed his work Figure #30 (2009) for the cover, and once the recording was completed, he agreed to lend his name to the project – an unprecedented gesture from this pioneering artist. While listening to the final sequence, Ligon thought of "Quiet Storm," the 1970s radio format known for its late-night suave style broadcasts, addressing themes of life and love. Quiet Storm takes the listener through various scenes, interludes, and narrative arcs, marked by a sense of fluidity in movement and the fleeting nature of characters. The "face-to-face" monologues address the existential and the immediate: survival, autonomy, the meaning of life.