RITUALS

September 2024 sees the release of Ishmael Ensemble’s third longplayer ‘Rituals’, which marks a significant leap for the Bristolian musicians. With their live-instrumentation-meets-electronic merging of styles, the group were always broader than the ‘new UK jazz’ tag which they were often given, but here their scope and boundary-pushing ambition is more evident than ever before.

Still maintaining a blend of spiritual jazz, dub, experimental and electronic soundscapes, here those elements are vigorously whipped-up into huge cyclones of sound, more song-based and accessible than before, but also almost psychedelic in its euphonic blend of colours, textures, facets and moods.