IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE Vinyl & CDs

Review: If Electricity is anything to go by, Eno Williams and his Ibibio Sound Machine band were particularly productive during the various pandemic lockdowns of 2020 and '21. The resultant album, the rightly acclaimed group's fourth studio set to date, is predictably inspired, with hired-in producers Hot Chip wisely choosing to subtly tweak rather than totally overhaul the band's distinctive trademark fusion of kaleidoscopic synth-funk, West African disco and boogie, '80s electro and the more electronic end of the post-punk spectrum. Highlights include the throbbing, polyrhythmic Afro-electro of 'Electricity' and the acid-sporting nu-disco brilliance of 'All That I Want', but it's the set's overall feel - described by Williams as "Moroder meets Afro-futurism" - that really delights.