Space Afrika: Quiet Storm (blue ripple coloured vinyl) LP

Space Afrika, the Manchester/Berlin-based duo of Joshua Tarelle Reid and Joshua Inyang, make raw, intensely detailed, visceral music with shades of ambient, trip-hop, techno, and modern classical, drawing spacious urban dubscapes from the contours of their city. "Quiet Storm" expands on their sound and scale as a sprawling, collaborative vision shaped with profound patience and intention, embedding their own coming-of-age story within a moving suite of cathartic abstraction. Songs allude to spirituality and the human condition, the tension between boldness and softness, ambition and persistent inner demons."Quiet Storm" is a response to the duo's trajectory since the release of 2021's "Honest Labour". Speaking to the multidisciplinary nature of the project is the involvement of celebrated artist Glenn Ligon, whose work deals with Black identity and queerness. A central inspiration at the onset of recording, Ligon offered his work "Figure #30" (2009) for the cover artwork, and following the completion of recording, he agreed to provide the project's name - an unprecedented gesture from the pioneering artist. Listening to the final sequence, Ligon thought of "Quiet Storm", the 1970s radio format known for smooth, late-night programming with themes of life and love.