Some music demands our attention. And some music develops a gravity all its own. The electronic music duo Space Afrika has been working towards the latter for years. With Quiet Storm, Joshua Tarelle Reid and Joshua Inyang present their most ambitious studio album to date, on release this September on Dais Records. Produced between Manchester, Berlin, and with a wide network of contributors, the sound shifts between ambient, soul, trip-hop, contemporary composition, and the lingering echoes of Black musical traditions, without ever settling into any one genre. What emerges are interstices, intricate arrangements composed of voices, bass sounds, silences and memories.
The album title refers to the work of conceptual artist Glenn Ligon, who, for decades, has been exploring language, Blackness, and the question of how meaning is created and lost. It’s a perfect choice for an album that consistently pushes against straightforward answers and embraces ambiguity. Singer Axelle Fanyo’s expressive soprano, the poetic variations of musician Klein, Tony Njoku’s spiritual warmth, and the restless introspection of Deuén – they are like pieces of a wider structure the fragments of which emerge, overlap, and then disappear. The result is an environment for music rather than a traditional album. This is what makes Space Afrika so special. Their music doesn’t depict a world – it builds its own. A world in which Manchester resonates alongside dub, sound system culture, sacred music, and the ethereal fringes of the club.
The release show featuring special guests will present Quiet Storm live at Berlin’s Volksbühne in a world premiere.
Born in Los Angeles to Haitian immigrants, Bapari first found their way into music through DJing in the city’s underground scene in the mid-2010s. Their productions and sets move between techno, jungle, garage, hip-hop, IDM and experimental club music, constantly pushing alternative electronic music into unexpected spaces — from evocative soundscapes to disruptive underground tracks. Their work has appeared on FKA twigs’ Eusexua and Afterglow, Kelsey Lu’s So Help Me God, and includes collaborations with Eartheater, Lola Leon, Kidä and Mhysa, among others. Since 2019, Bapari has also hosted the monthly Puffy show on NTS Radio.
Their forthcoming EP Blurry Days (Halcyon Veil, 2026) marks their most introspective work to date. Emerging from a period of self-doubt, inner conflict and emotional fog, the six-track record expands on the hybrid sound of Evermore (Halcyon Veil, 2025). Drawing from ’90s shoegaze, trip-hop and R&B while rooted in Bapari’s underground electronic background, the EP sees them stepping into the role of vocalist for the first time, weaving layered vocals and live instrumentation into a raw and vulnerable sound.
Since debuting their live show at La Station in Paris in 2025, Bapari has performed internationally, from opening for Eartheater and Steve Lacy to five Boiler Room appearances and festival performances at Primavera, Sonic Acts, Dweller and Hyperreality. Their work extends across music, fashion and contemporary art, with collaborations including Barragán, YSL Beauty, No Sesso, New Balance, Red Bull and Oura.