ESL Music announced it would release the 3rd full-length album of Novalima, titled “Karimba”, on September 13, 2011. This collective based out of Lima Peru brings together Afro-Peruvian roots music with modern electronic, dub, and afro-beat. The founders of Novalima, Ramon Perez-Prieto, Grimaldo Del Solar, Rafael Morales, and Carlos Li Carrillo, became friends while in high school in Lima. Since that time they have created a recipe to take Peruvian roots music into the future. Karimba takes the listener on a trip through history and travels the Afro-Diaspora of sound and struggle. From ancient to future, Novalima digs deep into Afro roots while extending those branches on that musical tree.
Karimba sees them carrying on the tasteful and nicely balanced mix they refined with past albums Afro and Coba Coba. The sound they create works equally well in a crowded club of dancers, in the living room, or out in the open air enjoying the sun on your skin.
Drawing on traditional Afro-Peruvian rhythm’s and percussion instruments like the Cajon, Karimba seamlessly blends clean, modern electronic beats with energetic and soulful organic instrumentation on top. The opening track “Festejo” starts out with dubbed out sounds effects and a soothing female voice pulling you into to a trance like state until the beat drops hard and you are locked into the Novalima groove. Tracks like “Revolution” create a circular feel with the 6/8 groove that take the listener between Cuba, Africa and Peru. “Mamaye” pushes forward with a driving breakbeat and washes over you with sounds from the future floating across the sonic spectrum as it describes an encounter with a wise elder woman.
As the album progresses “Zarambe” takes an African ritual chant updated with a driving dub synth bass and 4 on the 4 kick drum to dance floor perfection. A big bang of energy can be found in Hotel Barcelona, combining Afro-Beat, club friendly drums. driving percussion, and swelling horn riffs, before dropping down into the title track to close out the album.
Coming off the Latin Grammy Nominated Coba Coba from 2009 which reached #11 in the European World Music Charts as well as playing the festival circuit around the globe, Karimba takes the Novalima sound to new heights. Tracks from Karimba are already lighting up dance floors around the world played by a handful of DJ’s with advance copies. For those familiar with Novalima their new offering will please and surprise, and for those just hearing for the first time a new door of sound has just opened.
Novalima North American Summer Tour Dates: 6/28 @ Don Quixote – Santa Cruz, CA 6/30 @ Higher Ground – Burlington, VT 7/01 @ Middlebury College – Middlebury, VT 7/02 @ TBA – Montreal, QC – Canada 7/04 @ Castleton Fine Arts Center – Castleton, VT 7/06 @ Central Park SummerStage – New York, NY 7/07 @ Sunfest – London, ON – Canada 7/08 @ Sunfest – London, ON – Canada 7/09 @ Festival D’ete – Quebec, QC – Canada 7/10 @ Johnny D’s – Somerville, MA 7/11 @ Cedar Cultural Center – Minneapolis, MN 7/12 @ Mayne Stage – Chicago, IL
