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Manchesters’ 12-piece creates a transfixing mix of Afrobeat, Protest Song, and UK Jazz on their upcoming self-released sophomore album. It was released on 12’’ LP and digital download on 3rd November 2023, alongside tour dates in the winter and spring.
Agbeko embodies a heady concoction of Afrobeat, psych-rock, Ethio-jazz, and Protest Song. Channeled through an onslaught of horns, irresistible grooves, and powerful lyrics, Agbeko’s songs strive to call out corruption and embolden the collective pull towards societal change and healing in present times. They are the soundtrack for a congregation reveling upon a world teetering on the edge of collapse.
Drawing as equally from Fela Kuti and Mulatu Astatke as they do from Led Zeppelin and Woody Guthrie, ‘Agbeko are their own force of nature, with a message, an understanding and a consistent ability to erupt a dance floor.’ (Groovement) Title track There Must Be Another Way sees them wearing the tradition of protest song at the heart of their music on their sleeve, as does the unapologetic Amber Tongues in its controversial about one of the darkest episodes in the UK’s recent history.
Terra Firma is a heavy instrumental reflection on the growing popularity of the far right across Western Europe. Given the pandemic isolation surrounding the compositions, it’s perhaps inevitable that the album There Must Be Another Way also sees Agbeko’s chief songwriter, Jamie Stockbridge, show moments of introspection; Somebody Somebody is a meditation on the loss of a dear friend and the existentialism that can come with it, and All That I’d Turn Back For sets the comfort, vulnerability and co-dependence of a relationship against the happy melancholy found in the music of highlife masters Pat Thomas and Ebo Taylor.
Oscar’s Tune is an homage to Oscar Sulley and shows the band’s prowess as instrumentalists forged in the UK’s burgeoning jazz and creative music scene. Proud DIY artists, the group is self-releasing There Must Be Another Way on limited edition 12’’ vinyl, available to pre-order on Bandcamp to release on November 3rd. This is accompanied by a short winter 2023 UK tour, with a second leg for April 2024 to be announced in the new year.
The first leg of Agbeko’s tour dates is as follows:
21st October: The Grand, Clitheroe
18th November: The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge
19th November: The Quarry, Liverpool
29th November: Peggy’s Skylight, Nottingham
30th November: Jam Jar, Bristol
1st December: Peckham Levels, London
15th December: YES, Manchester