Black Flower

They’re based in Belgium, but their gaze is fixed on Africa. Now six albums deep, Black Flower continue to evolve their sound without losing their identity. Signed to the ever-inventive Sdban Records—one of the most vital labels in the hybrid nu jazz scene—the quintet led by Nathan Daems on flute and saxophone blend ethio-jazz, afrobeat, and Middle-Eastern flavours into a web of intricate yet supple arrangements. As the title suggests, "Kinetic" is an album about motion—about friction, interlocking parts, and momentum.

The opening title track sets the tone straight away. The flute is played raw and grainy, locked in with the biting breath of a swirling electric organ. Everything rides on a polyrhythmic foundation, with bass and percussion in constant dialogue. Exoticism here isn’t a stylistic garnish, but a structural force: take the unexpected yet seamless leap of three semitones that recalls Arabic scales—startling, but perfectly placed.
But it’s with “Conundrums” that the band truly flexes its layering skills: loops slide over one another, and what seems like a rigid framework subtly shifts and stretches, creating room for horns and keys to drift into surprising directions.

The group’s afrobeat leanings come to the fore in “Monkey System,” where a dusty groove anchors mellow but sharp horn lines and a spoken-word feature from guest vocalist Maskerem Mees. That influence grows even stronger on “Underwave,” where a tuba bassline churns through coils of organ, gritty textures, and bubbling electronics in constant flux.
But Black Flower also have a quieter side, and “Violet Drift” shows it. The flute sings a lazy, nocturnal blues of sorts, then hands off to a plucked string instrument that shuffles forward in delicate jolts, weaving through pauses and ripples. It’s a different kind of motion: one that breathes, that leans into silence—a kind of psychedelia that doesn’t need effects or volume to take up space.

That sensibility runs through the entire album, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed in the heart of the contemporary nu jazz movement. In the UK, tastemaker Gilles Peterson has championed the band for years, helping bring their sound to cult stages and airwaves, from BBC Radio 3 to Worldwide FM. It’s recognition earned through a kind of coherence that shifts its centre of gravity at every turn. And in doing so, reshapes itself with each new step.

(English version created with AI-assisted translation)

30/04/2025