Bleep

InFine (Carl Craig, The Wanderer) presents the sophomore album from Saint-Denis de la Reunion-based musician Labelle. Taking cues from Detroit techno, contemporary jazz and the Maloya music native to Reunion island, Labelle crafts a ghostly record of strange songs and challenging beat-tracks. Though many of the cuts on univers-ile feature guests, the results of the collaborations vary wildly. Whereas at one moment we get eerie, twisted torch-songs like the Nathalie Natiembe-featuring ‘Benoite’, the following track ‘Soul Introspection’ has Labelle and Prakash Sontakke layering sounds and textures to create a wash of noise akin to waves breaking on a shore. For Labelle’s solo efforts, we get two lopsided drum-tracks and two weightless works. An unusual and rewarding album.