Tel Aviv based, global grooving combo Sandman Project are spot-on calling their new album (due June 7th via the irrepressible Batov Records) ‘Where Did You Go?’ It’s been six years since they whipped up the outer-national dance floors and airwaves with their ethio-jazz meets Habibi funk mega-EP ‘Royal Family’. DJ Kobayashi, Gideon Coe, Laurent Garnier and more heaped on the praise but then came a lengthy pause from leader/composer/guitarist Tal Sandman and her group.
Of course time doesn’t ever stand still both within and around the musicians world. Those experiences, transitions, travels and tensions that Tal and her five piece group have gone through themselves have now been channelled within their forthcoming full-length debut. Plus Tal also acknowledges that her established roots in Tel-Aviv’s vibrantly diverse Jaffa district, where faiths and cultures endeavour to come together in community, continues to underpin Sandman Project music. Its sweeping range from film noir to spiritual jazz, surf rock to afro beat is the sound of that place, even under the pressures it faces.
That resilient uplift is captured on ‘Where Did You Go?’, the new album’s title track and second signpost single. Tal Sandman’s guitar twang takes the lead, skipping and chipping at those tezeta patterns as scuttling Cuban-tinged cross rhythms provide the locomotion. There maybe echoes of Mulatu in the tumbling vibe toned synths and Hailu Mergia pizazz in the chunky keyboard funk but the Sandman Project look further than simply retro ambitions. The gorgeous, skyward trumpet melody and swirling electronic breeze gives the tune a Gondwana like elevation. The track confirms that Sandman Project clearly know their own sound.
Want more step-forward music – Sandman Project should be your ‘go-to’ band.
Pre-order your copy of ‘Where Did You Go?‘ by Sandman Project from your local record store or direct from Batov Records HERE
