Andy Bell (Ride/ GLOK) and Masal promo-ed a new album (Common Primitives) two months ago with a new track called The Morning Of The Trip. They've followed it recently with the next one, Tower Of Babylon. Andy plays guitar and with GLOK and maybe Masal too some synths/ keys. Masal are an Anglo- Turkish duo, Al Johnson and Oslem Simsek, who blend synths, found sounds and electronics with harp, theremin and Oslems's Turkish folk influences, a fairly unique and interesting coming together of three musicians.
That being said I sometimes get to the point where I listen to instrumental music- ambient/ cosmische/ shoegaze/ psychedelia- and am blown away by it and then come here to try to describe it and.... end up repeating myself, using the same old phrases and imagery.
Tower Of Babylon has fluttering harp, a sharp and bumping rhythm, distorted guitars and/ or synths. The music builds and loops, breaks down and re- assembles. The harp returns and then the buzzing starts again, the drums return. It's a trip of its own making, a dreamlike detour.
Oslem grew up in Turkey studying classical harp and when she moved to England met Johnson who found common ground in ambient/ electronics and world sounds. They supported Andy at a gig in 2020 and began to work together after that. In Turkish the word Masal means fairy tale or folk story which feels relevant to the music that they make. Al has referenced Pharoah Saunders and Vini Reilly as key influences (as well as a Turkish folk song Oslem remembered from growing up) on the forthcoming album, which comes out in October, nine tracks on vinyl or digital.
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