Slovo sounds like the intersection of a smoky jazz club and a political rally held in a rain-slicked London alley. The music is anchored by the signature guitar work of Dave Randall, which provides a shimmering, often melancholic melodic foundation over classic, heavy-set trip-hop beats. It is a sound that feels both intimate and expansive, using the warmth of analog production to cushion sharp, often challenging lyrical themes.
What truly distinguishes the project is its collective nature and its use of the human voice as a tool for both melody and message. By weaving together high-profile guest vocalists like Emiliana Torrini with the sampled voices of activists and historical figures, Slovo creates a sonic collage that feels like a global conversation. The production is dense and layered, often featuring intricate percussion and submerged basslines that demand a good pair of headphones.
Start with the album 'nommo' to hear the project at its most conceptually pure. It perfectly captures that early 2000s Bristol-adjacent sound while injecting a level of intellectual rigor and global perspective that was rare for the genre. It is essential listening for anyone who likes their chillout music to have a sharp, conscious edge.
Slovo is a south London based music collective founded by former Faithless guitarist Dave Randall. Their latest line up includes the Italian singer Barbarella (Barbara Pugliese of Barbarella's Bang Bang) and US hip-hop artist Mike Ladd, who both contribute to the album Bread & Butterflies which was released 17 July 2020. The group has previously released two other studio albums: nommo (2002) and Todo Cambia (2007). For the first album nommo, Randall brought together Icelandic singer Emilíana Torrini, English singer Kirsty Hawkshaw, American hip hop recording artist Anthony Demore, drummer Max Roach, and the voices of Charlie Chaplin and Woody Guthrie. The album raised questions about the world and was in the words of The Sunday Times, "a wonderful album that is both stridently polemical and determinedly celebratory". Randall then put together the Slovo live band with singer Andrea Britton, bass player Lucy Shaw, percussionist Sudha Kheterpal, and guitarist and keyboard player Andrew Phillips (Grasscut). The band toured extensively in Europe in 2003 and 2004 playing at many of the major European festivals and supporting Lamb and Damien Rice in the UK. In 2005, Randall returned to live guitar duties with Faithless, but also began work on Slovo's second album Todo Cambia. The album featured vocalists Andrea Britton and hip hop MC Bobby Whiskers as well as the voices of Indian activist Arundhati Roy and US political prisoner and writer George Jackson. It was co-produced by Andy Marlow who also joined the band as bass player for a series of performances to coincide with the album’s release in 2007. During the next decade Randall toured again with Faithless as well as Sinéad O'Connor and Roland Gift. He also composed music for several documentary films and authored the book Sound System: The Political Power of Music (Pluto Press 2017) before returning to the Slovo project. In 2020, he stated "Bread & Butterflies is Slovo's third studio album and I think it's our best yet. This feels like such a strange and pivotal time to be alive. We've tried to explore the issues affecting us all, and to capture some of the feelings they invoke. But above all this is an optimistic album, born of the belief that a better world is possible".
Shares trip-hop, downtempo, alternative rock (subgenres); sample based, layered dense, analog warmth (production style)
Shares trip-hop, downtempo, art pop (subgenres); sample based, layered dense, analog warmth (production style)
Shares sample based, layered dense, analog warmth (production style); mysterious, contemplative, bittersweet (moods)
Shares sample based, layered dense, analog warmth (production style); trip-hop, downtempo, art pop (subgenres)
Shares trip-hop, downtempo, art pop (subgenres); sample based, layered dense, analog warmth (production style)
Shares trip-hop, downtempo, alternative rock (subgenres); sample based, layered dense, analog warmth (production style)
Shares sample based, layered dense, analog warmth (production style); mysterious, brooding, contemplative (moods)
Shares trip-hop, downtempo, alternative rock (subgenres); sample based, layered dense, analog warmth (production style)
Shares sample based, layered dense, analog warmth (production style); trip-hop, downtempo (subgenres)
Shares sample based, layered dense, analog warmth (production style); trip-hop, downtempo (subgenres)
Shares trip-hop, sample based, art pop, downtempo (signature)
Shares trip-hop, art pop, downtempo, ethereal (signature)
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