Bambara – Love On My Mind review

Courtesy of their singer Blaze Bateh, Bamabara’s songs often feel like they occupy a space which is both archaic and yet modern; in the same mould as Danny Lee Blackwell’s Night Beats project, for them the primeval swamp of dirty rock n’ roll is never going to be drained.

And yet Love on My Mind began in very contemporary circumstances, with the trio of adopted Brooklynites scattered around the country due to the pandemic. Needing the chemistry that only being in a room together can generate, an album’s worth of remotely crafted material was discarded and the band headed back to their natural habitat of the studio.

The half a dozen tracks here serve as a great introduction for newcomers. The world might have changed, but not in the sort of absolute terms which would require a total rethink in Blazeville, hence whilst there is a rare love song here with Birds, almost all of the twisting gothic darkness which made their last full albums Stray so alluring is retained. This is evidenced most obviously on Feelin’ Like A Funeral and Point And Shoot, the latter full of retro-danger and regret, subjects Bambara are close to making their own.

You can read the full review here.