Newen Afrobeat at Brudenell Social Club
Johnny James, Managing Editor
Putting a Latin stamp on the style pioneered by Fela Kuti and Tony Allen in the 60s, Newen Afrobeat bring their life-affirming live show to Brudenell Social Club this August.
Newen Afrobeat are a 13-piece band from Chile, who merge Afrobeat – a Nigerian genre that combines West African styles with American funk, jazz, and soul influences – with the sounds of Latin America, proposing a unique cultural integration that sounds, well, pretty amazing.
Founded in 2009, they’ve got five albums under their belt, comprising both originals and covers. Among these, Newen Plays Fela stands out, featuring some brilliantly inventive takes on Fela Kuti classics like ‘Opposite People’. Such work has earned the band the respect of some of Afrobeat’s legends, finding friends and collaborators in Tony Allen, Femi Kuti, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Seun Kuti, Oghene Kologbo and Dele Sosimi.
In 2024, Newen Afrobeat celebrate 15 years with the release of their fifth album, GRIETAS, which sees the band evolve their sound, bringing in electronic flourishes and dialling up the funk. As is typical of the genre they work within, their music has always come with social messages, and this release is no different, calling for change with regards to everything from indigenous rights to women’s empowerment and the environment.
The title GRIETAS responds to the idea of rupture and transformation, reflecting the duality between life and death, deterioration and reconstruction, as well as the interconnection between diverse cultures and roots in a changing world. This duality also operates in the themes addressed in each song, reflecting on the controversies of today’s world as well as stories of more everyday human feelings.
A rock solid rhythm section, simmering bass grooves and soulful horns underpin vocals by many special guests – among them Chico Cesar, Dele Sosimi and Joe Vasconcellos. Though it’s perhaps Colombian singer Lido Pimienta who shines most brightly on the record’s title track. Woven with the slinkiest of guitars, her slightly raspy voice brings something extra soulful to the band’s brass-fuelled sound. Take a listen to that track above, and do dig into the rest of the new album, too. It’s brilliant.
Carrying the torch for Afrobeat in their own, refreshingly unique way, the band’s live show, by all accounts, brims with the same life-affirming energy that powers their records. How they’re going to fit all 13 of their members on the tiny Brudenell stage is anyone’s guess, but in that room – probably our favourite in Leeds – it’s sure to be a hell of a gig.
