For a long time now, the London collective Ibibio Sound Machine has made a dizzy, cross-cultural form of party music, rooted both in disco and in the Afrobeat that frontwoman Eno Williams grew up with. Earlier this spring, the band dropped the one-off single "Return To Sender," which is not an Elvis cover. Now, they're ready to announce Chopping Mountain, a new album that's coming later this summer.
Ibibio Sound Machine recorded the follow-up to 2024's Pull The Rope at their own South London studios. After they worked with outside collaborators on their last couple of LPs, this one sees band member Max Grunhard once again acting as producer, a role he last occupied on 2019's Doko Mien. Their new single "Concept Of Love" is a dizzy, joyous, robo-funk celebration in which Eno Williams switches back and forth between the English and Ibibio languages. She says that the song "went through many different stages and ended with a soulful, electronic Afro-disco feel. What you give out into the world is what you receive back, it’s beautiful to be loved."
Joe Gist and William Wade directed the swirling, colorful "Concept Of Love" video. Below, you'll find that clip, the Chopping Mountain tracklist, and the band's upcoming touring plans, which sadly include no North American shows.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Burning In Lagos"
02 "Chopping Mountain"
03 "When You Want To Dance"
04 "Concept Of Love"
05 "Return To Sender"
06 "Give Me Peace"
07 "Menso"
08 "Love"
09 "Kukuru
10 "River Don't Rush"
TOUR DATES:
7/03-04 - Glasgow, UK @ WOMAD
7/22-27 - Donostia, Spain @ Jazzaldia
7/30 - Eeklo, Belgium @ Helden In Het Park
8/01 - Floreffe, Belgium @ ESPERANZAH!
8/02 - Nutley, UK @ Good Vibrations Society
9/05 - Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Spain @ Phe Festival
9/11 - Reading, UK @ Down at the Abbey
10/02 - Bristol, UK @ Lantern Hall
10/03 - Cardiff, UK @ Clwb Ifor Bach
10/07 - Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
10/09 - Dublin, Ireland @ Button Factory
10/10 - Birkenhead, UK @ Future Yard
10/15 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
10/16 - Oxford, UK @ Cowley Workers Social Club
10/22 - Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK @ Gosforth Civic Theatre
10/23 - Edinburgh, UK @ Liquid Rooms
10/24 - Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
11/20 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
11/21 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
11/25 - London, UK @ Islington Assembly Hall
1/29 - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emerates @ The Red Theatre, The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi
Chopping Mountain is out 9/11 on Merge.
