Born in Sudan, raised in Ohio, and relocated to Brooklyn,
Ahmed Gallab
spent time as an auxiliary drummer/musician with bigger-name indie acts such as
Caribou
and
Eleanor Friedberger
while always working on
Sinkane
, more or less his solo project and an outlet for limitless exploration of various genres, influences, and unlikely sonic combinations.
Mean Love
is the third album from
, following in the eclectic footsteps of 2012's
Mars
. Also released on the seminal dance-punk imprint
DFA
,
ran through a variety of musical appropriations, meshing heavily borrowed
Fela-esque
Afro-beat and '70s funk with the indie psych sensibilities of bands
Gallab
had been affiliated with, like
Yeasayer
.
follows a very similar blueprint, with
building his summery tunes on foundations of heavy-handed reference points. "New Name" begins with the exact same group yelp of "aaaaaaahhhhh yah!" that kicks off
the Meters
' classic "Cissy Strut," but quickly blurs into a blend of soft ambience and rubbery Afro-beat grooves, with some close parallels to
's more adventurous work. This type of familiarity carries through much of the album, with songs nodding to
Curtis Mayfield
Talking Heads
, early
Parliament
, and other rhythmic figureheads, all blended to perfection with
's own unique approach. "Moonstruck" even takes a detour into some strange hybrid of glittery psych and breezy bossa nova. With its various exercises in genre bending,
could easily feel like a string of unofficial cover songs, but
's wild combinations feel much more curious and sincere than that. A true obsession with sound comes through on
, and regardless of the mode
finds himself in at any given moment, stellar production and heartfelt songwriting keep the album engaging and beautiful at every turn. ~ Fred Thomas