London-based DJ/live music octet
Ibibio Sound Machine combine sounds inspired in equal measure by the golden era of West African funk and disco, post-punk, and modern electro. The band was started by producers
Max Grunhard,
Leon Brichard, and Benji Bouton, all enthusiasts of African grooves from the 1970s and '80s. The group, fronted by English-Nigerian vocalist
Eno Williams, took club culture by storm with their 2014 self-titled debut for Soundway. Supported by a host of influential DJs including
Gilles Peterson, the album opened the door to international touring.
ISM signed to Merge for 2017's
Uyai, adding elements of post-punk to their genre collision. They followed with 2019's raucous
Doko Mien. 2022's
Electricity juxtaposed mutant Afrobeat, funk, and post-punk sounds with cutting-edge electronica.
This trio began creating drum'n'bass tracks around the voice of frontwoman
Eno Williams. Though London-born, she was a first-generation U.K. citizen of Nigerian origin.
Williams' mother, whose native tongue was Ibibo, recounted numerous folk and children's stories from her own heritage to her daughter, and
Williams crafted lyrics from these sources and married them to modern themes. After the rhythm tracks were created, the three producers first enlisted Ghanaian guitar legend Alfred "Kari" Bannerman (from the band
Konkoma), Brazilian percussionist
Anselmo Netto, and synth/horn men
Tony Hayden and Scott Baylis as a way of illustrating
Williams' singing.
Though their inspirations are from an earlier time,
Ibibio Sound Machine's approach is distinctly modern; the band's music holds equal appeal on-stage and on record. Their first single, "Let's Dance," was issued by Soundway in January of 2014, and became a dancefloor smash in London clubs. It was followed by a self-titled album in March. In 2016, the group appeared on the Beating Heart: Malawi compilation along with artists such as
Luke Vibert and
Machinedrum. The same year, the band signed to indie rock powerhouse Merge Records. Their second album,
Uyai, arrived on the label in 2017; it peaked at number six on the World Album chart. After a global tour in 2018, during which the Eiyo EP and the single "Basquiat" were released, the octet dropped three more internet-released singles in "Tell Me," "Wanna Come Down," and "Guess We Found a Way" before releasing their third album,
Doko Mien, in March of 2019 and hitting the road for an international tour.
After cutting their live shows short due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
Ibibio Sound Machine re-emerged in March 2022 with
Electricity. Though they had always employed electronics, they put them at the forefront of the production, in a dissonant mix of Afrobeat, post-new wave disco, and mutant post-punk. The octet went outside the organization for the first time; they recruited
Hot Chip as producers and keyboardists, along with
Michael Rendall, and drum programmer Peter Matson. ~ Thom Jurek