Mala - Mirrors (2016)

2016 release. Mirrors is the second album by endlessly influential South London producer Mala. It follows his 2012 Brownswood release Mala In Cuba. But Mirrors is less Mala In Cuba Mk II and more the realization of a creative method that works for this most understated and intuitive producer: digging deep into the roots of a culture, recording local musicians and sounds, and using the recordings as source material and storyboard for a record. The product of repeated visits to dive into Peru's music, it revolves around tempo and flow, working local Afro-Peruvian percussionists, grassroots tap dancers and an Andean soprano into it's 14 tracks. A plethora of local instruments unique to the region are woven into the fabric of the album. The music reflects his own history in 'meditate on bass weight' sounds - carved out through the seminal DMZ clubnight and imprint he co-founded - and the traditional musicians he recorded in Peru between 2012 and 2015.