Swordman Kitala x Soft-Bodied Humans - Magada Biwuka EP

 Released: July 11

This collaboration between UK-based Soft-bodied Humans and the Ugandan lyricist Swordman Kitala is a wildly dynamic and captivating EP. It effectively combines a mixture of grime and dubstep influences with an industrial vibe that is enigmatic of the type of underground dance music coming out of East Africa currently. There’s plenty of the heavy beats and synths and a certain bit of levity mixed in despite this hard industrial aesthetic, often coming from the vocal. I wasn’t at all familiar with this variety of hard edged dance music coming from the area before this album, but I have to say that this might be one of my new favorite things. 

There’s only five tracks, but the EP manages to give off a number of different vibes. It opens up with the dark and grimy textures of “Nkubisa Biso .“ While all the tracks have that aforementioned industrial vibe, this one feels like one of the darkest tracks on the album with its super-deep rumbling basses and a beat that feels like it was pulled from the darker realms of dubstep circa 2007. The flow from Kitala is one of the most intricate as well, hitting lines in a sort of triplet-flow in between the snaps of the snare. The track that immediately follows, “Magada,” feels like a quick departure as it opens up with some rather bright pads and a more playful rhythm. Even so, it still feels like a heavy vibe with some oddly danceable qualities. 

I’m not sure how exactly to feel about this style, but I’m pretty certain that I really like it. It’s got a heaviness to it that comes primarily from the intense basses and the heavy but still snappy drums. But even with its intensity, it still maintains a certain groove that would probably keep less experimentally inclined listeners from immediately trying to tune out. It really combines the best of a number of heavier dance genres into something that has a surprising amount of variety injected into it. It makes me a little disappointed that there’s only five tracks here, but hopefully we will get another release from this duo in the future.