Try To Kiss And Make Up

Bibio “Old Graffiti”

Stephen Wilkinson’s music as Bibio is commonly slotted in with electronic acts despite how often his songs are built around guitar and other live instruments. His most striking and beautiful compositions are rather pastoral and folky, even when he’s working in a more overtly ambient mode. “Old Graffiti,” from his forthcoming record, retains some of this aesthetic even as the rhythmic center of it signals an urban atmosphere. The central groove sounds extremely similar to me – it’s drawing specifically from Afro-Brazilian music, so I figure it must be something I already sort of know one way or another. (Or maybe it’s a Fela thing? Or a particular Studio One groove?) Regardless, the familiarity is a boon to the song, and Wilkinson’s psychedelic folkiness nudges the groove into unexpected tonal and emotional spaces.

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