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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Laura Snapes and Ben Beaumont-Thomas

Add to playlist: the beautiful, breakneck chaos of Heavensouls and the week’s best new tracks

A flashed-out photo of Chidi Obialo, AKA Heavensouls, at a house party
Hallucinatory … Chidi Obialo AKA Heavensouls. Photograph: AUTHKS/PR

From Biafra, Nigeria/Texas, USA
Recommended if you like Los Thuthanaka, Jpegmafia, DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ
Up next Album Cantu of the Sower released via NTS Recordings on 7 October

Many listeners might find blown-out noise, hyperactive stylistic shifts and breakneck rhythms a hellish prospect, and fair enough. But for a certain stripe of sensory freak, such swarming intensity can tip over into a state of heady relaxation. The ultra-prolific Heavensouls’ latest project scratches that itch: the six songs on Cantu of the Sower glitter like rich seams of rare crystal, billowing from arcade glitter to compression-straining bass, sprite-like playfulness to warm, rushing brass. Languid trumpet lines float around trash-compactor crunch; sugary breakbeats reach tweaky maximalist peaks. I don’t know about you, but I could bathe in it.

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