Pull the Rope

by Ibibio Sound Machine

Overview

One of the qualities possessed by Ibibio Sound Machine is remarkable consistency. From their eponymous 2014 debut on Soundway, through three subsequent long players on Merge, vocalist/songwriter/producer Eno Williams and DJ/producer Max Grunhard have guided a fluid lineup, traveling across combined styles, genres, and approaches. The duo have always put their diversity down to their evolving cast of collaborators. Their primary partner here is producer/mixer Ross Orton (Working Mens Club, Tricky, Roots Manuva, M.I.A.). They cut the record over two weeks. Orton insisted that Williams and Grunhard write all the songs before bringing in the band (a first). Given Orton's love of hard-edged dance club-style production, he provided that dynamic and shifted ISM's direction. Pull the Rope's title-track opener weds post-punk, gogo, and no wave funk. A circular snare meets PK Ambrose's mantra-like bass pulse, Motorik drumming (by Orton), handclaps, and synth as Williams and a chorus chant the title -- a metaphor for communal hope. Scott Bayliss' layered trumpets enter near the end, adding dancefloor ballast to futurist funk. "Got to Be Who You Are" is introduced by a kalimba and a rap. Over three minutes and 40 seconds, it unfurls into souled-out drum funk programing and Williams sing-chanting the lyric. "Fire," co-written with percussionist Magnus Mehta, is a set highlight. An anthemic collision of Afro-funk, dubby horns, swirling beats, and electronics, it's anchored again by Ambrose pushing the bass at the mix like a weapon as Williams alternately croons, chants, and swoons in a multi-lingual lyric framing "fire" as a metonymic device. The looping snares on "Them Say" give way to bass and low-end keys as Williams delivers a paean to self-determination, "...Couldn't help but notice/Steps upon the path/Streets are full of faces/Family from the past...." It's answered by the militant post-punk hip-hop funk of "Political Incorrect." Afrobeat guitars and Ambrose's Gang of Four-esque bassline frame bass drum loops, and Williams' vocal, alternately crooning, rapping, and chanting. "Mama Say" is a theme of feminist empowerment sung in English and Nigerian Ibibio (Williams' ancestral tongue) amid hard-edged electro-pop and squiggly funk. "Let My Yes Be Yes" doubles down on the women's empowerment tip. Its gorgeous melody is framed by dubwise horns and Afrobeat percussion in a bouncy neo-electro mix. Check the mutant Afro-disco groove in "Far Away" carried by Ambrose, Williams, and vocal chorus with Alfred Bannerman's spiky, distorted guitar adding shockwaves to the groove until horns, synths, and bass entwine in a trancey collision under the backing singers. Closer "Dance in the Rain" is an electro-driven paean to desire; synths blip and bloop under drum loops, reverb, and Williams soulful singing as electronics, vocals, and percussion engage in call-and-response. Though much tighter and more adventurous musically, the unified approach on Pull the Rope recalls the ambitious scope of Ibibio's eponymous debut while their songwriting expresses pain, hope, joy, desire, and struggle with sophistication and verve. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	05/03/2024
Label:	Merge
UPC:	0673855084527
Rank:	28201

Tracks

1. Pull The Rope
2. Got To Be Who U Are
3. Fire
4. Them Say
5. Political Incorrect
6. Mama Say
7. Let My Yes Be Yes
8. Touch The Ceiling
9. Far Away
10. Dance in the Rain

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ibibio Sound Machine   Primary Artist