Ibibio Sound Machine announce new album Uyai, out March 3rd on Merge Records; share new song 'The Pot Is on Fire'

Photo credit: Dan Wilton (click for hi-res)

IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE
ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM, UYAI, RELEASED MARCH 3RD WORLDWIDE VIA MERGE RECORDS

SHARE NEW TRACK 'THE POT IS ON FIRE'

LISTEN HERE:
https://youtu.be/x0EJrvtS3UY

SPECIAL UK RELEASE SHOWS - MARCH 2017

"An adventurous update to Afrobeat and high life." - The Guardian, 4/5

"Some of the best and most hypnotic arrangements from any band playing anywhere in the world today." - The Quietus

"A meeting of joyous disco, signature West African highlife, and soulful psych jams." - Crack

Today, Ibibio Sound Machine share 'The Pot Is on Fire' from their Merge debut Uyai, out March 3rd. The song, which was debuted earlier today by Lauren Laverne on 6Music, is a food dance that celebrates the “happy place” when the food will be ready soon. “It’s also metaphorical,” frontwoman Eno Williams writes. “Something is brewing which will soon bear fruit.”

Ibibio Sound Machine is a clash of African and electronic elements inspired in equal measure by the golden era of West African funk, disco, modern post-punk, and electro. The album title Uyai means “beauty” in Ibibio language and refers to the strength and free spirit of women in general and, in particular, the courage of the women in Eno’s family, to whom she often refers in her writing.

“Uyai is a continuation of Ibibio Sound Machine’s story in which the worlds of West African highlife and electronic London collide via the storytelling lyrical thread of Eno’s vocals in the Ibibio language of Nigeria,” the band explains. “There is a darker, edgier quality to the sound that maybe reflects the difficult journey the band took from making the first album to completing the second one. The songs are based more around themes of empowerment, freedom, and the liberation of dance for women, and people in general.”

Ibibio Sound Machine is Eno Williams (vocals), Alfred Kari Bannerman (guitar), Anselmo Netto (percussion), Jose Joyette (drums), John McKenzie (bass), Tony Hayden (trombone, synth), Scott Baylis (trumpet, synth), and Max Grunhard (saxophone, synth). The band will announce worldwide tour dates soon but in the meantime see below for details of a special series of UK shows in March 2017.