EVERYTHING IS BROKE

Description

Often categorized as world music, Muito Kaballa actually embodies the charismatic abandon of a punk provocateur. Inspired by post-punk figures such as Maximum Joy – a band born from the ashes of 1970s agitators The Pop Group and Glaxo Babies, and known for integrating afrobeat rhythms – Kaballa achieves a remarkable balance between disciplined mastery and bold experimentation. Like Maximum Joy, he offers grooves influenced by afrobeat, filtered through the nervous energy of punk. The influence of major African highlife figures such as Ebo Taylor and Fela Kuti deeply marks his work. This musical approach gives rise to a seductive cacophony on Everything is Broke, Kaballa's first album, which draws on his usual influences of street funk, jazz, afrobeat, with slight touches of hip-hop. Pushing the boundaries of his sonic universe even further, the artist here explores the vibrant, jittery energy of a New Orleans-inspired pop, letting the sensual sounds of the city's French Quarter flow freely throughout the album. Built on improvisation, Kaballa's music adopts an intuitive approach, where each thoughtful arrangement makes way for the spontaneous use of all available instrumental skills. A true one-man band, Kaballa handles the live instruments he plays with as much ease as the electronic sequencers with which he builds his rhythmic loops. He creates surprises at every turn, and his experience gained from playing in the bustling streets of Cologne has allowed him to develop great musical ingenuity. Catchy tracks like "Quasi" vibrate to the rhythm of a Dixieland funk mixed with salsa, while "Tin Tin," traversed by Moog textures, relies on energetic percussion. The Brazilian accents of the powerful "Lugor Ao Sol" rest on an afrobeat pulse, while "The Easy Way," luminous and twilight-like, opens the album with the warm gentleness of coastal waters that seem to have inspired it. Sometimes elegant, sometimes raw, these eight explorations of a texture-rich pop remain deeply rooted in the urban culture from which they emerged. The punk spirit mischievously present in Kaballa's universe remains intact. Yet, Everything is Broke dreams of cities far beyond those the listener might know. It is the sound of the ceaseless movement of crowds, crossing traffic-saturated metropolises, in pursuit of an imagined elsewhere.