Premiere: Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers – Sala

Music

The Haitian Vodou group and Belgian producers team up for a second time on Swiss label Bongo Joe Records.

A heavy knock resounded through the house, then came the door bell reverberating loudly off the walls. They hadn’t been waiting long, perhaps five minutes or so but impatience had already started to get the better of them.

Without warning the door suddenly swung open with a tremendous thud, yet no-one waited to greet them on the other side.

Slowly and cautiously they entered the house and immediately found themselves in one enormous room, so vast you could barely make out the other side. It was completely empty, making it feel all the more cavernous. Would the person who extended this invitation make themselves known soon? Only time would tell.

Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers is the brain child of a group of musicians and producers from two opposite ends of the world. Connected by a shared love of rhythm and psychedelic moods, the Haitian Vodou band and alternative Belgian production duo released their first collaboration – a debut album in 2020 called Vodou Alé – before joining forces again for Ayiti Kongo Dub earlier his year on Swiss label Bongo Joe – now, they’re releasing the second part of the EP.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, with both groups bringing singular qualities that fuse to create something truly mind-bending and hypnotic. Polyrhythmic drum patterns are paired with dubwise electronics, raw, primordial atmospheres and ceremonial chants, which send the listener into a trance-like state.