Jazz fusion, Brussels-based LũpḁGangGang, are set to release new EP ‘Urban Detox’ on the 1st July via the groove-obsessed Sdban Ultra label. With influences including Kamaal Williams, Roy Ayers, The Breathing Effect, STUFF. and Black Midi, their sound is rich in texture and depth with an underlying, undeniable groove throughout.
LũpḁGangGang initially started out as jazz/funk cover band in 2017. Anton, Miel, Lena and Rob all met at a jam session summer camp while still at school. Over time, the band evolved into writing their own songs and released their debut EP ‘Stalingrad’ in 2020 to critical acclaim in Belgium. The EP was a musical search for the ‘middle ground’ between these four divergent young musicians. Due to the band’s desire for creative expansion over genres, they have been able to perform on various Belgian stages for the past three years including Ancienne Belgique to Flagey, Gent Jazz and Handelsbeurs in support of label mates, Black Flower.
Opening with ‘galet’, heavy percussion and afrobeat-like influences collide, resulting in a warm, upbeat urban groove, while the sun-dappled ‘Yesterday Didn't Matter’ conveys that gloomy feeling you experience after a long period of isolation and the long road back. Let go of the past and its problems.
Elsewhere, the deeply soulful sounds of ‘Woods Near Athens’ is a reference to Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' and to the imagination and fantasy we have as a child and gradually lose when growing up without realizing it, before closing track ‘kienda’, is an explosive cosmic trip and features emerging French saxophonist Yonatan Hes.
LũpḁGangGang are currently in the studio putting the finishing touches to their debut album, set for release in 2023.
