Psychedelic dub, Afro-Latin rhythms and cosmic grooves blend harmoniously on La Chooma’s debut album, to be released on Batov Records. Drawing inspiration from Moroccan gnawa, Colombian cumbia, Afrobeat, Jamaican dub and roots, as well as cosmic jazz, this sextet creates music that is both captivating and organic, deeply rooted in world traditions and designed to get today’s dancefloors moving.

Already noted for their hypnotic live performances, La Chooma built a solid reputation on the local scene before gradually winning over an international audience. Their first singles, “Magic Plant” and “Huachuma”, received support from influential figures such as Deb Grant and Tom Ravenscroft of BBC Radio 6 Music.

“Magic Plant” perfectly embodies the band’s signature sound: a lush blend of haunting grooves, abundant percussion and dizzying synths — as if Jimi Tenor had strayed into the Colombian Amazon. The track, both dreamy and imbued with the spirit of dub, unfolds with an organic pulse and cosmic textures.

‘Huachuma’ extends the experience: a hallucinogenic jam tailor-made for tropical dancefloors, fusing Afrobeat percussion, swirling basslines and psychedelic bursts.

With “High Grow”, one imagines an episode of The X-Files transplanted to Addis Ababa. The synths, steeped in ethio-jazz, dance and waver over a heady bassline inspired by Mulatu Astatke, supported by Afrobeat percussion bathed in an unsettling dub delay. Perfect for dark, smoky rooms at the first light of day.

‘Lonely’ emerges like the lost child of Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids and The Comet Is Coming: a cosmic clash of synth-funk and Afro-rock drums, carried by an acoustic bass line that explodes into a frenetic solo. The drums, on the verge of overflowing, suddenly fade away to let spiralling synths blossom, reaching their peak halfway through.

‘Cozumel’ follows seamlessly, sliding into a slower groove, sculpted around a deep electric bass and mesmerising Afro-Latin rhythms. The synths rise alongside the magnetic sound of a handcrafted Egyptian kawala flute. At the three-minute mark, the tension climbs before fading away in a breath. In this spiritual intensity and organic warmth, we find echoes of the revolutionary work of Count Ossie and Cedric Brooks, Jamaican legends who married jazz and Rastafarian percussion.

With this debut album, La Chooma traces invisible trajectories through time and space, revealing underground connections and shared frequencies, weaving a soundtrack that bewitches the mind as much as it makes the body vibrate.