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