Nkisi heads in '7 Directions' on debut album

Nkisi will release her debut LP '7 Directions' via Lee Gamble's UIQ imprint on January 18 next year.

The 7-track outing from the Congolese-born, London-based artist is described as "rooted firmly in the African Cosmology of the Bantu-Kongo and in particular the writings of Kongo scholar Dr Kimbwandende Kia Bunseki Fu-Kiau". The cosmic theme can be felt throughout the release as Nkisi bends instruments and ethereal sounds to her will, with bold streaks of Congolese percussion adding a unique flair to her experimental production style.

In a quote on the album's press release, Nkisi said: “When we hear before we see, voice and sound waves interplay between consciousness and hallucinations. Allowing the rhythmic to experiment with conditions of perception, disrupting predetermined expectations...Through manipulating rhythm, we create movements of energy... this energy determines collective behaviour and allows for new ways of producing knowledge...when we hear before we see, we can think about predicting the future and the manipulation of imagery that happens. through visionary possession we are renewed from within, in a system of systems... the pattern of patterns in being, it reaches and remains forever incomplete”.

You can pre-order '7 Directions' from Boomkat or the UIQ webshop. Listen to 'VII' and check out the tracklist below.

Aaron Holden is a freelance writer, follow him on Twitter

A1. I
A2. II
A3. III
A4. IV
B1. V
B2. VI
B3. VII