Afropop Worldwide

It's been awhile since we've heard anything from the Owiny Sigoma band. Beside a brief (and absolutely killer) boiler-room performance, the band has been silent since 2013's Power Punch. If you don't remember that album (or never heard it in the first place), it's well worth revisiting-- a dark, vibrating slice of Anglo-Kenyan psych, it was easily one of the year's best releases. Happily, from the evidence of their new single, "Changaa Attack," the band hasn't lost a step. Named after what is apparently a type of potent Kenyan home brew, the track layers bemused, half-spoken vocals over loping percussion that mixes electronics and analog drums. King Tubby-style dub echoes wash in and out, and the whole thing builds into a sort of verdant climax, with the voices of children happily chanting the refrain bringing us out. It's a lot of music--a lot of sonic world--to pack into a song that runs less than three minutes, and it leaves us very excited about the album itself. Check out "Changaa Attack" below.