XXX

Three decades in, BaBa ZuLa are still pushing forward. On XXX, the Istanbul collective return with a record that feels hypnotic, fearless and completely their own.

Shapeshifting rhythms, transformed saz, analogue electronics and deep trance-like grooves run through the album, as BaBa ZuLa continue to stretch Turkish psychedelic music into stranger, wider territory.

Their sound has long moved beyond psych rock, pulling Anatolian traditions into dub, performance art, avant-garde textures and ritual atmospheres. Along the way they have worked with Mad Professor, Jaki Liebezeit of Can, members of Faust and Einstürzende Neubauten, and Warren Ellis of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.

XXX balances instrumental excursions and taksims with original texts that are playful, political and unmistakably theirs, connecting folklore, urban life, ecology, memory and resistance.