A chance DJ set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, with British Ghanaian soul artist Andrew Ashong on the decks, and UK broken beat legend Kaidi Tatham jamming along on synths and flute, was the crux of their new collaborative EP ‘Sankofa Season’, released today on Kitto Records. ‘Sankofa Song’ is the current single to be taken from the project, and follows up the first cut ‘Washed In You’.
Remembering that night Kaidi says – “Andrew came in with a load of amazing records man, but then he played Manolo Badrena ‘The One Thing’, and I still remember, that’s when I knew, this guy’s proper, he’s serious. I was like who is this dude, he smashed up the place, an amazing night”.
Sankofa translates to ‘Go back and get it’ in the Twi language of Ghana, and is the message throughout the six-track EP. Whether it’s looking back at the London club scene on ‘Low Ceilings’, or exploring the diasporic connections of music on ‘Sankofa Song’, while also taking in the events of the year so far, Andrew explains “Let’s not spend too much of our divine energy re-traumatising ourselves and obsessing over grievances. We’ve got to address it, but we have to move forward, and try and make it better”.
‘Sankofa Season’ takes both artists to new heights as they seamlessly complement each other’s musical language, giving voice to productions that criss-cross genre and time to move into their own distinct lane. Speaking on the recording process with Kaidi, Andrew says “I don’t even know how to describe how fluid and fast and how on point and how abundant his musical expression is, it’s insane”. Kaidi adds “I just knew exactly what to do with Andrew man, straight away. But this is just the beginning – this is just the start, people ain’t ready”.
The EP follows Kaidi Tatham’s 2018 album ‘It’s A World Before You’, and is Andrew Ashong’s first full release since his 2014 self-titled EP. ‘Sankofa Season’ is the inaugural release for Kitto Records, a new label based in Belfast and London.
