Four years on from the release of her acclaimed, outward-looking and appropriately titled debut solo album, International Love Affair, Tigerbalm returns to Ubiquity Records with studio album number two, the thrillingly impressive and kaleidoscopic Bubblegum Discos.
Tigerbalm, real name Rose Robinson, has kept busy since the release of International Love Affair, popping up on Razor-N-Tape, Wonderwheel Recordings, Music For Dreams and 2020 Vision’s Crazy P Curates series. Even so, Bubblegum Discos delivers a refreshed, finessed and bolder evolution of her trademark global-infused nu-disco sound. Reflective of a new-found confidence in her own creative credentials and a desire to work with a vast array of hand-picked musicians and vocalists, the album strengthens and clarifies Tigerbalm’s signature sound, delivering a vibrant musical vision rendered in high definition.
Seemingly painted in even more vivid and sonic colours, with 21st century tropical disco songs prioritised over club-focused instrumentals, Bubblegum Discos is a set designed and structured to showcase Tigerbalm’s interpretations of two of her most cherished musical inspirations – Brazilian musical culture, and vintage dancefloor workouts from the African continent – infused with nods to Italo-disco, proto-house, soca and the fusion work of Jasper Van’t Hof.
The first half of Bubblegum Discos leans into Tigerbalm’s South American influences. Former single ‘Nayar’, a lightly reggaeton-inspired nu-disco excursion crafted alongside Napoli scene stalwart Giorgio Lopez, leads the way. Bright, breezy and dancefloor-ready, it’s followed by the Clavinet-sporting Brazilian disco rush of ‘Diga Me’, where regular vocalist Joy Tyson ¬sings in Portuguese above an infectious backing track co-produced by Michele Charivarini.
The Italian multi-instrumentalist lends a hand, too, on the sun-soaked samba-disco colour of ‘Vera En Paraty’, a brilliantly breezy and life-affirming affair fronted by vocalist Melodie Correira. Robinson delivers her first ever lead vocal on the partly improvised ‘Coco Makoko’, a more synth-heavy slab of South American neo-boogie/proto-house fusion featuring stellar guitar and keys from Crazy P’s Jim Baron.
The album then turns towards the African continent, with several additional guest vocalists and collaborators stepping up to join the fun. Chief amongst these is sometime Afriquoi performer Andre Espeut. He first makes is presence felt on two tracks: recent single ‘Pura Vida’, where he delivers lyrics in Lingala (the creole-like language of the Democratic Republic of Congo) full of hope, love and inspiration, before returning for percussion-rich album closer ‘Conga’, a thrillingly heavyweight fusion of Afro-centric disco rhythms, weighty dub disco bass and far-sighted flashes of synthesised colour.
Sandwiched in between you’ll find two of the album’s undoubted highlights. Tigerbalm joins forces with Montreal-based Haitian vocalist and musical fusionist Waahli on ‘Do Da Soca’, a hybrid central American/South American disco workout rich in heady horn arrangements and impeccable musical flourishes from the returning Michele Charivarini. Then there’s ‘Afro-Disco’ with popular Afro-house and Afrobeats vocalist Idd Aziz, a body-popping-friendly workout that re-frames early NYC electro and 80s Hugh Masekela jams for a 21st century nu-disco audience.
Action-packed and impeccably crafted from start to finish, Bubblegum Discos is not only a glorious collection of 21st century tropical disco fusions, but also the sound of an artist delivering on her early promise… and then some.
