||ALA|MEDA|| - Spectra, Vol.1 (2022)

On their new album Polish group ||ALA|MEDA|| (known as Alameda 5) leaves behind rock esthetics for good and fully dives into the influences of African and Latin American rhythms that were already present to smaller extent on their previous albums 'Duch Tornada' and 'Eurodrome'. The key word here is 'batida', musical style originated in Angola and famous for its euphoric and syncopated rhythm. Alameda 5 expands this musical idiom it their own novel way, adding the influences of industrial music, post-punk, gqom, dub and vaporwave. It leads to a unique tropical-industrial combination where avant-garde meets afro-house, complex sampling and granular synthesis are incorporated into frenetic live rhythm section. The main idea of the band's new direction is a total fusion of electronics and live music and obliteration of all divisions between high and low arts, sublime and vulgar works, avant-garde and entertainment, music 'for the soul' and music 'for the body'.