The whole ñu-cumbia phenomenon has taken the Afro-Colombian genre to the most unexpected locations on the world map during the past few years. Here at Remezcla, we’ve blogged about fellas adopting cumbia and making it their own in such random places as Denmark and Australia. Well, apparently the global cumbia expansion has also made its mark in Sweden!
Yes, you read that right my friend, the land that gave us ABBA, Roxette and Ace of Base has also conceived Cumbiasound. And guess what? This Swedish cumbia thing, is really damn good.
It all started a few years ago when Daniel Fridell put together a live band with the intention of creating some amazing ñu-cumbia that, unlike the buzz-worthy digital majority, was organic and sounded real, with a soul. That goal was certainly achieved and this release on Caballito‘s netlabel is living proof of it.
Cumbiasound may have a band name that’s rather generic and unimaginative, but their music is anything but. And that’s what counts. The all-analog octet sounds really tight and funkier than anything you’ve ever heard coming out from Sweden and they managed to achieve that soulful sound without falling into retro clichés. It’s like futuristic cumbia with a classic, timeless sound and it shines at its best when it’s all instrumental but doesn’t lose focus when guest vocalist Boogie Castillo drops some imaginative verses on top.
Am I too excited about this? Hells yes I am. I only wish these guys were pressing their shit on wax, because this would sound great on my vinyl DJ sets (there’s my nod to vinyl record labels out there to sign these guys right away).
