Driving rhythms, gliding grooves, and insistent bursts of brass flavor Antibalas‘ self-titled Daptone Records debut and first in five years.
The 12-piece, multi-national Afrobeat collective from Brooklyn features several pit band players for Broadway’s Fela and a lead singer (Abraham Amayo) who grew up in Lagos, Nigeria dancing to Fela Kuti’s music. It’s soulful, international, politically charged dance music. And it’s extremely irresistible.
Their shows are known as a sweat-soaked, mind body & soul dance-fests, where audience members follow Amayo’s every command.
Antibalas, which literally translates into “anti-bullet” in Spanish, recorded their new album next to a muffler shop in Brooklyn with Daptone’s Gabriel Roth (known for producing and engineering Amy Winehouse & Sharon Jones) using analog tape.
On the leadoff track “Dirty Money,” a keyboard and cowbell riff provide the accompaniment to a dig against Gordon Gekko-type Wall Street greed.
