Out 12th August, on 7” vinyl in a beautiful full-colour sleeve,
“Doo Wop (That Thing)” is a one-off single bringing to light an exciting
collaboration between two prolific and influential artists:
Colombia-based, British-born producer and musician Quantic and the
Grammy nominated Chilean MC and singer Anita Tijoux (also known as Ana
Tijoux).
The A-Side, as you will no doubt have clocked, is a cover of Lauryn
Hill’s hit “Doo Wop (That Thing)”; the lyrics flipped into Spanish by
Tijoux, whose understated yet charismatic flow makes her a beguiling
vocal presence, and a Cumbia beat giving an alternative, tropical slant
on the late ‘90s hip hop/R ‘n’ B classic. Beats, bass, guitar and
accordion are provided by Quantic, alongside a horn section comprising
some of the musicians who have featured on his Flowering Inferno
dub/reggae project.
“I wanted to continue on the link with hip hop and Cumbia that I
touched on with my Hip Hop En Cumbia EP last year”, says Will “Quantic”
Holland, whose music has been key in the recent surge of interest in
Cumbia in the UK; “It’s important to unite the styles of North America
with those of Latin America, make that connection. These worlds are
closer together than we think, and I think it’s nice to generate this
kind of interaction musically speaking.”
The B-side brings another cover version, the Spanish language song
“Entre Rejas” (translation: “Behind Bars”) which was made famous in
Latin America and the Spanish speaking Caribbean by the great
accordionist and singer Lisandro Meza. The emotive song tells the story
in the first person of a character who is in jail and his/her lover has
forgotten about him/her inside; and this perfectly pitched rendition is
sure to bring it to the attention of a new worldwide audience.
Having long been a fan of Tijoux’s music – not to mention her
integrity, freedom and inventiveness as an artist – Quantic ended up
meeting her in Austin, Texas, at SXSW. “At one
point we just ended up jamming out “Entre Rejas” in the back of a car
on the way back from one of the parties with some friends”, he
reminisces; “It was a great coincidence that we both knew that song.”
Anita Tijoux’s 2010 album ‘1977’ was Grammy nominated in the Latin
Alternative category, and garnered major respect from fellow musicians
around the World, including a recommendation from Thom Yorke to his own
fans; and its title track was featured in Breaking Bad and has had over
3.3 Million YouTube hits.
Having recently moved to Bogotá (from Cali, where he settled in 2007
on relocating from England), Quantic is currently putting the finishing
touches to a new solo album for Tru Thoughts, the label that has
released the vast majority of his fascinating musical output over the
last decade. A hugely anticipated release, this upcoming LP will be his
first studio album under the ‘Quantic’ name in over six years, following
an experimental period which has borne various commercially and
critically successful projects including Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro,
Ondatrópica and of course the 2012 Quantic and Alice Russell
collaborative opus ‘Look Around The Corner’.
The bespoke artwork for this release, which features two colourful
designs printed on either side of a natural card sleeve, was created by
Bogotá based visual artist Mateo Rivano who is a major presence on the
international street art scene and also regularly DJs jointly with
Quantic around the city.
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