Space Afrika – Quiet Storm
Despite being named after a late-night radio format, Space Afrika's third album is far from easy listening
Space Afrika's latest takes its title from the late-night radio format pioneered by Melvin Lindsey in 1976 featuring silky-smooth R'n'B and soul ballads that he dubbed "beautiful Black music." Although the group's nocturnal dubscapes could hardly be described as easy listening – often combining urban field recordings and spoken word samples to recreate the low hum of state surveillance and the quiet desperation of social inequality – the duo have assembled a far-reaching cast of collaborators that mirrors the way Lindsey would curate a night's worth of music. Vanity opens the record theatrically, Axelle Fanyo's classically trained soprano erupting against a backdrop of tape hiss and double bass.
Elsewhere, Alto Aria's angelic vocals weave through Kelly Moran's delicate piano on From the Heart of Knowing, whilst on Pretty Gospel, the soulful voice of Paris-based producer Kiala Ogawa conjures images of rumpled bedsheets and midnight yearning. Perhaps most striking is Deuén's breathless stream-of-consciousness on If This Is Hell, which spills out in overlapping, half-finished thoughts that mirror the breakneck pace of modern life. These contributions suggest the record's real achievement is less about recreating Quiet Storm's sound than reimagining what it offered: a refuge from our increasingly polarised and fractious society.
Listen to: From the Heart of Knowing, H00D Ambient, If This Is Hell