Today, Kinshasa collective KOKOKO! announce news of their extraordinary debut album, Fongola - alongside accompanying single ‘Buka Dansa’, premiered this morning on BBC 6 Music’s Breakfast Show with Lauren Laverne. You can preorder the album here.
Discussing ‘Buka Dansa’, the group offered the following: "'Buka Dansa' means 'dance till it breaks', or 'break the dance', and Dido sings the song on a synthetic rhythm, where the riff from a self-made guitar moves with the melodies. The lyrics are psychedelic, and remember what’s good in life - putting that feeling parallel with a nice taste passing into your throat, like smoke, a digestion of good moments.'"
KOKOKO! began in 2016 in Kinshasa. Electronic artist Débruit was in town working on a film soundtrack and began collaborating with Makara Bianko, a charismatic singer who performs with his dancers to electronic loops, and separately with a number of ingenious musical instrument creators and artists. They threw a spontaneous block party, and though many of them hadn’t known each other previously, the energy really clicked between Makara Bianko, Débruit, Boms Bomolo, Dido Oweke, Love Lokombe and Bovic Mwepu (who has since passed away), and together they became the founding members of the group KOKOKO!, part of a wider collective of multidisciplinary artists.
To accompany the release, the band has announced an extensive world tour, which kicks off at All Points East in early June alongside Bon Iver, before the band return to the UK and Europe for November headline shows including shows at iconic spots such as London Fabric and Berlin Berghain. Tickets are available here.
Full dates as follows:
2019 Summer Festivals
Fongola North America Headline Tour
Fongola UK/EU Headline Tour - further dates announced very shortly
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