Charles Bradley Menahan Street Band
Victim Of Love

This album is an assemblage……glimpses of tradition…reflections on our collective present…luminous echoes between love and solitude.hope and absurdity.euphoria and mourning.This album grapples with and transgresses these binaries because we have/and continue to cross borders. Yet, for us, the border is no metaphor—too much real staring back at us.We embody the border.We (our families) have crossed it.We (our stories) are coated with its residues.And so… we cross the border of self through our art—out of necessity.This album was imagined while touring the country as families were corralled in cages.We then fled the wildfire of a nascent pandemic poised to (especially) ravage our communities as we recorded in Los Angeles.And our sonic journey concluded in Chicago while the country rebelled against the murderous consequences of policing in the U.S.Through this cascade of tipping points and tragedy, we summoned melody and verse to sound out verdant technicolor dreams of freedom and desire, mirroring the vortex of our time.And borders were at the center of these struggles.Borders—of nation, of belonging—are the struggle.And so, this album is a set of dispatches from that wondrous journey……our journey across and into a sunburst surreal.…our astral meditations on loss and triumph.…our sonic trek across a landscape of trauma and effervescence.…The border divides and defines places—yes. But it is equally a place unto itself—a borderland.It is the forbidden place where we dwell.The enchanting space where we are at home.The bustling city where we reflect.Look into our mirror. See us in you.

Monzanto Sound release their upcoming EP Tomorrow,Tomorrow and Tomorrow on None More Records on the 25th November 2022.Off the back of their incredible debut Time Lapse EP in 2021 and keyboardist Mali-I’s phenomenal debut LP ‘In Session’, Monzanto Sound return with new vocalist Mimi Koku to deliver an exceptional new 4 track EP.Support has come from Jamz Supernova on 1Xtra, Huey Morgan and Don Letts on BBC 6music and Spotify’s Fresh Finds Jazz playlist.Opening the EP is the psychedelic neo-soul groove of Nuff Blues, a gentle, lucid and soulful track about heartbreak and revenge. With velvety vocals and a neo-soul groove, it evokes a nostalgic, romantic and yet haunting energy, lyrically inspired by songs such as Etta James & Harvey Fuqua’s ‘If I Can’t Have You’ or Skeeter Davis’ ‘End of The World’.Following that comes the deep dub jam The Fool, a rhythmic yet defiant dub jam with a steady groove, killer bass line and a smooth roots vocal. Lyrically irreverent, it pulls together themes of disillusionment, rebellion and reflections on never-ending cycles of state violence. The dubversion was featured on Mali-I’s debut album In Session, and now the full vocal track is released.The Letter is based around a krautrock inspired groove, pulling on the rhythms and bass lines of Can, electric Miles and Third-era Portishead, with Koku’s sultry, spooky vocals layered over the top to create an intoxicating groove and tune.Eja is the most experimental of the tracks, built from hours of edited jams and recordings, much like the technique Miles Davis and Can were using in the 70s. A monster of a jam split into two distinct sections built on polyrhythmic drums and percussion, haunting vocals,grooving bass and weird and wonderful electronic textures, it showcases all the different, incredible elements this band has to offer.The Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow EP will be available on vinyl and all your usual streaming services when it’s released on the 25th November this year.released November 25, 2022Monzanto Sound are:Mimi Koku – VocalsAnthony Boatright - Bass guitarMali Baden-Powell - Keyboards andsynthsWazoo Baden-Powell - Drums andpercussion, Guitar overdubsRory Comerford - Guitar and percussion (The Fool and Eja)