Originally Oba Loba is a project of Norberto Lobo and João Lobo in order to satisfy their desire to compose music for a band. Their debut album, Oba Loba, released in 2015 and critically acclaimed, has been described as ‘hybrid instrumentals that cannibalise popular song’ (Clive Bell in The Wire, july 2015). Comparisons with Tom Zé or Jim O’Rourke were made to try to qualify a music hard to categorize.
Recorded in May 2015, Sir Robert Williams is the second album of the sextet. While most of the songs are composed by Norberto and João Lobo, the influence of the other members, especially pianist Giovanni Di Domenico, is more perceptible. Mixing composed and improvised parts, the increased complicity allows the band to develop clearer atmospheres, oscillating between minimalism and dense orchestrations, gaining in dynamics without losing fluidity and nuances. More accomplished but less immediate than his predecessor, Sir Robert Williams remains faithful to what this project represents for the original duo: an area of freedom where the pleasure of playing and the desire to share are claimed.
released on March 24, 2017. Out on Three:four records and the Silent Water label.
– Norberto Lobo: guitars, bass
– João Lobo: drums, samples
– Lynn Cassiers: voice
– Ananta Roosens: violin, trumpet, vocals (on Honiara only)
– Jordi Grognard: clarinets, flutes
– Giovanni Di Domenico: piano, fender rhodes, organ
– Niels Van Heertum: euphonium (on ‘O Funâmbulo Sonâmbulo’ only)
A1. Legionella (3’21)
A2. Macarrones (7’08)
A3. O Funâmbulo Sonâmbulo (5’34)
A4. Honiara (3’40)
B1. Chuva No Zinco (2’33)
B2. Sir Robert Williams (4’55)
B3. Basma-Tea (3’41)
B4. Lentilhas (7’41)
tracks A1, A2 and B4 composed by Norberto Lobo
track A4 composed by João Lobo and João Nicolau
track B2 composed by João Lobo
track A3 composed by Giovanni Di Domenico
track B3 composed by Jordi Grognard
track B1 composed by Norberto Lobo, Ananta Roosens and Giovanni Di Domenico
recorded in Studio Grez, Brussels, in may 2015
produced, engineered and mixed by Giovanni Di Domenico
master and vinyl cut by Frederic Altstadt at Angstrom Mastering, Brussels
drawing by Fátima Moreno (Fatimorri) fatimamoreno.com
Artwork by Darryl Norsen
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