UKAI NDAME, Bessa Teixeira 'Sulula' on Rise Music

'Sulula' marks the first release from UKAI NDAME and Bessa Teixeira on Rise Music since 'Farkoko EP' in October 2022, a gap of about three years. The Traditional Edit, filed as Afro House, arrived on the label in September, and Hyenah placed it sixth of 20 in the Times Are Changing chart on 10 October, a field where six of the 20 records already carry the Rise Music name; elsewhere in that same chart, Louis Baker's 'Keep On', on Best Works Records, sat 14th.

The drums and the chords weigh the same throughout, with a moderate count of hits to the beat keeping the rhythm steady rather than busy. Levels run high, flat under the peaks, and the top end sits bright, a combination that gives 'Sulula' an open, present character built to cut through a room. Three years is a long gap for any act to leave a label, and returning to land sixth of 20 in a chart this size suggests the wait did the pairing no harm.