London’s Ibibio Sound Machine have announced Pull the Rope, their fifth album, which will be out May 3 via Merge. After working with Hot Chip on 2022’s Electricity, the group turned to Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, M.I.A.) who co-produced the album with Ibibio Sound Machine’s Max Grunhard. The band say this album shifts “venues from the sunny buoyancy of a sunlit festival to a sweat-soaked, all-night dance club.”
The first single is “Got to Be Who U Are,” which is a joyous techno-house banger. Say the band: “’Got to Be Who U Are’ is about the idea that what brings us together is stronger than what separates us. No matter where we may go, we will always carry the essence of who we are in our hearts, and yet the places and things that separate us are not as important as we may be led to believe. Be happy and proud of who or what you are. Musically, the track begins by stating its message over a traditional African mbira part and then drops into a similar vocal except now over more of an electronic dance vibe which is meant to have an uplifting tone to it to carry along the message that we may be in Europe, Africa or America, but a simple sound or thought can instantly connect us. The places mentioned in the chorus ‘Surulere, Isale Eko, Ikoyi, Yaba’ are all areas in Lagos, Nigeria where Eno grew up. The different parts of the music are connected even though they are using totally different sounds, symbolizing movement of people across the world and the fundamental connection between places and people no matter where one may be.”
Watch the video below.
Ibibio Sound Machine have UK dates in the spring and fall and those are listed below.
Pull the Rope:
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
Ibibio Sound Machine – 2024 tour dates
May 22 Portsmouth, UK – Wedgewood Rooms
May 23 Norwich, UK – Arts Centre
May 25 Birkenhead, UK – Future Yard
Jun 05 Cambridge, UK – Junction 2
Jun 06 London, UK – KOKO
Nov 08 Bristol, UK – SWX
Nov 09 Leeds, UK – Project House
Nov 14 Brighton, UK – Concorde 2
Nov 15 Manchester, UK – Academy 2
Nov 16 Dublin, IE – Whelan’s
Nov 18 Edinburgh, UK – Summerhall
Nov 19 Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
