Nkisi - 7 Directions
7 tracks. Each numbered in Roman numerals. Without words. Except here and there in the songs. London-based Nkisi draws inspiration from the African cosmology of Bantu-Kongo, which explores religious and philosophical teachings. Bantu Kongo is one of the oldest and most powerful spiritual traditions in which ‘7 Directions’ explores our origins and our connection to society, nature and the universe. Musically, she is influenced by the polyrhythms of Congolese percussion music. Nkisi seeks a connection between her Congolese background and the contemporary dance scene. Born in Belgium, she left Leuven for London, where she became an activist and one of the founders of the collective NON Worldwide. A spokesperson of sorts for contemporary artists inspired by the African diaspora, Nkisi’s debut album aims for an interaction between consciousness and hallucinations; hearing before seeing. Allowing rhythm to experiment with perception. 7 Directions is an album where the rhythms aim to hypnotise you as a listener, to move you and to bring you to some kind of enlightenment. It’s an album where you don’t pick out your favourite songs, but let yourself disappear. Nkisi plays with elements of IDM, drum’n bass and grime. Tracks flow into each other with no clear delineation, except for the few seconds of silence before ‘VI’. The rhythms on ‘IV’ are rougher and the beats pick up on ‘V’. It’s the sound of the future. It’s a trip. One to be taken often and slowly absorbed. A record where you can either disappear into the rhythmic chaos or hold on to the hallucinogenic swarm of sounds she throws over it. A collision between two worlds. Two sounds.