Glastonbury brothers Todd and Guy Speakman, better known as the live electronic act and production duo Speakman Sound, have released their first music of the new decade. The single comes as a collaboration with Simo Lagnawi, one of the UK’s leading Gnawan musicians, ‘Babamimoun’ merges modern electronica with traditional North African vocals. The track is accompanied with a suitably spiritual and visually cinematic music video created by Eidy Knowles.
‘Babamimoun’ is the follow up to 2019’s ‘LIMBIC’ EP which picked up key tastemaker and radio support from NOWNESS, RINSE FM and BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephen’s. Influenced by Speakman Sound’s love of DIY rave culture, the track was born on a trip to Morocco with Sharky (close friend and rising alt-pop artist), where they embraced the sounds and culture of Gnawa music.
“It’s been refreshing for us to go back to our roots in making ‘Babamimoun’. The track is heavily inspired from the many a time of being together in a muddy field at silly o’clock in the morning raving to some hard-hitting euphoric music. After visiting Morocco and falling in love with depth of the music out there we were so excited to get in the studio with Simo!” – Speakman Sound
Drawing influence from the forest spirits worshipped by the Gnawa tribes people, ‘Babamimoun’ is a longer and more dancefloor-oriented production, featuring swooping synths coupled with the trademark rolling percussive rhythms of Speakman Sound.
“‘Baba Mimoun’ is the leader of the spirits of the small forests. These small forests are life givers in the Saharan environment. The Gnawa tribes people speak and sing of these spirits, in worship and appreciation. We humans have a symbiosis with these spirits they lead us through our experience of the world”– Simo Lagnawi
The cinematic and visually stunning music video for ‘Babamimoun’ has been created by 3D artist Eidy Knowles, who depicts the story of an otherworldly traveler across space and time.
“This film is about a traveler from an advanced race who travels to the surface of a desolate planet, reawakens it and initiates a cycle of evolution. I started off by writing a script outlining the story, gathering reference images together to get a feel for the environment. Then I storyboarded a sequence of timed scenes to the music, with a series of rough sketches for each shot. I loved the collaboration, Speakman Sound allowed me a lot of creative freedom” – Eidy Knowles
