Premiere: Nandele – Sou Plastiko (Meu Lugar)

Music

The Mozambican live artist and producer kicks off our sub-label Human Endeavour’s 2024 schedule with an ode to his home city.

As a key figure in the capital’s electronic music scene, Nandele has earned a reputation for producing hypnotic analogue beats shaped by his wide-ranging tastes; spells in grunge bands, boom bap crews and hip hop collectives, and releases for Tresor, Cotch International, Already Dead Tapes and our own Ransom Note Records, are just a few footnotes in a nearly 25-year long career.

Plans for a full body of work for our R$N sub-label have been in motion for some time – Nandele’s track ‘Incomati’ opened the label’s first ever release in 2022 – so this EP marks an important chapter in the imprint’s journey.

Across the EPs six tracks Nandele weaves field recordings captured around Maputo with tense rhythms; at times they crawl and slither, at others they rumble and clatter.

Lead single and opening track, ‘Sou Plastiko (Meu Lugar)’, is a prime example. Dripping with suspense, its rhythmic skeleton is fleshed out with trippy vocals, ringing synths and sharp, crisp percussion.