KOKOKO! - BUTU

Released: 05/07/2024

With BUTU, the follow-up to KOKOKO!’s terrific 2019 LP Fongola, the Congolese collective were inspired by the night – specifically Kinshasa after dark, and its intoxicating buzz of possibility, and not a little chaos. It is ultimately a celebration of the joyful and creative spirit of the city’s inhabitants, and sweet fancy Moses is it fun; as a Kinshasa tourist board advert, you could hardly do better than BUTU.

KOKOKO!’s singular mix of DIY electronics and instrumentation (the group, as a political statement, uses instruments made out of junk and scrap), and Congolese rhythms, has never sounded better on this record, aided in no small part by the visceral production from Xavier Thomas (AKA Débruit), which captures the sound of equipment being pushed to its limit, sometimes via saturated and distorted speakers. As on Fongola, singer Makara Bianko brings all of the tracks into focus, his infectious voice maintaining the kinetic energy while also providing structure, rising above the glorious noise made by his bandmates and offering an eagle-eye view of the sprawling city below.