Samrai - Work & Roti (2023) [Hi-Res]

Swing Ting don Balraj Samrai serves summer 2023’s sweetest album with solo debut ‘Work & Roti’, chopping Vikaash Sankadecha’s lissom Indian percussion into UKG, broken beat and dancehall styles voiced by likes of Fox and Equiknoxx’s Shanique Marie & Gavsborg - Big RIYL Chunky, Kaidi Tatham, Beatrice Dillon, Murlo

A king of Manchester clubs and a global dancehall hyper-connector, Balraj Samrai is a longtime lynchpin of his adopted home city, where he co-ran the seminal Swing Ting clubnight for 13 years, beside DJing countless other dances and heading up its production unit. More recently he became co-publisher of SEEN Magazine, a vital outlet for diasporic voices, and also minted the label Sangha Industries for release of ‘Work & Roti’; so named as a heartical dedication to his mum, and enacting testament to his diverse bonds in the city and beyond, bringing together Jamaican dancehall diamonds Gavsborg & Shanique Marie, plus a plethora of Manchester musicians, MCs, and DJs.

Like Chunky’s resoundingly acclaimed solo debut from earlier in ’23, Samrai’s first LP is a definitive product of his formative background and current environment, reflecting on the complex experiences of first generation Punjabis (and other migrants, for that matter) who have become so integral to British culture, in a calm, thoughtful way that never feels overwrought, and surely brims over with distinctive soul and love. He uses Indian percussion - Tabla, Dholak, Kanjira, Dhol and Mridangam - as a sonic leitmotif that links all his circles, highlighting how its intricate, rhythmelodic lilt connects myriad strains of UK dance music to music from the Subcontinent and “East Indies” or Caribbean.

Firmly rooted in community and connections to the earth, ‘Work & Roti’ opens with samples of a phone call with his mum woven with Vikaash’s lip-smacking tabla and effusive dub chords like dance-pop answer to Beatrice Dillon’s ‘Workaround’, and neatly skips to the charms of ‘Yellow Crocus’ starring Pops Roberts riffing on Kaidi Tatham-like synth line, while ‘Help Me’ beautifully strips back to keys, tabla and subs that buoy Shanique Marie at her sweetest. Swing Ting cutter, DJ Joey B lends wrist action to Gavsborg’s louche delivery on ‘Fresh’, and Fox rides singjay style on ‘Create our Own Bless’, while the sublime feel of ‘Oil Money’ masks starker lyrical issues, and Thai Chi Rosé lights up ‘Dirty Dirty’ with proper R&B measures of Manchester blooz.

‘Work & Roti’ is a straight winner, clearly deserving of widest attention.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Samrai & SCAPA & Vindya - Work & Roti (4:02)
1.02 - Samrai - Yellow Crocus (3:36)
1.03 - Samrai & Shanique Marie - Help Me (3:58)
1.04 - Samrai & LINTD & Gavsborg & Joey B (Mcr) - Fresh [Explicit] (3:56)
1.05 - Samrai & Fox - Create Your Own Bless (3:43)
1.06 - Samrai & LINTD & Raheel Khan - Oil Money [Explicit] (4:05)
1.07 - Samrai & Thai Chi Rosè - Dirty Dirty (3:13)
1.08 - Samrai & Chesqua & Deepikaa - Breathe (3:29)