The keen reader might remember electrifying Swedish outfit MAMI UMAMI from a feature we published earlier this year, praising ‘belly dancer’ as “a track that feels intense and urgent, but also hypnotic and bold”. At the time, we also teased the arrival of an EP, ‘AFTERwork’. The record is now among us, and we can fully admire its provocative storytelling and hidden political hints.
Guided by its focus track ‘Conor’, the EP delivers exactly what we would expect from MAMI UMAMI. As they say in Sweden, the EP is a smorgasbord of musical influences, a brooding, industrial-coded mash of electronica, dance and leftfield tones. It’s a dynamic, malleable sonic entity that’s also hard to describe, but that pays off when experienced first-hand. Alongside its seven episodes, ‘AFTERwork’ translates MAMI UMAMI’s aural ethos in solid form.
From a lyrical standpoint, ‘AFTERwork’ functions as an observant critique of modern society, recognising its broken hopes and its increasing generational divide. Faced with challenges and asked to cope with an increasingly complex global landscape, MAMI UMAMI turn to music as a cathartic tool. As we are told: “The lyrics shift between the personal and the collective, capturing a generation navigating expectations, responsibility and an increasingly uncertain world. Moving fluidly across genres and tempos, it dissects modern capitalist life through the eyes of two young adults drifting between routine, escape and quiet rebellion.”
Recommended! Discover AFTERwork now: