lion babe drops bangin’ sophomore effort ‘cosmic winds’

Three years after its debut album dropped, veteran AFROPUNK duo, Lion Babe, serves up a sophomore effort, Cosmic Wind. A tightly composed, 15-track album, Cosmic Wind is, as the name suggests, an interstellar explosion of ambient sound. Blending soulful R&B with experimental synth-pop, the result is a listenable, bop-friendly psychedelic sound wave. And the overall result is pretty good, if a little inconsistent. But what the album lacks in ingenuity, it makes up in undeniable sleeper hits, like the first single “The Wave” and the Raekwon feature, “Western World,” which uses an interpolation from Pet Shop Boys’ 1984 smash, “West End Girls.”

“With ‘The Wave’ we wanted create a fun vibe that anyone could move and sing to. It has a classic groove funk-type of vibe, with a blend of modern and vintage sonics,” Lion Babe tells Rolling Stone. “We hope listeners feel good and get moving through the wave when they hear this one.”

As promised, the album stays true to the duo’s funky-based core and retro stylings, while demonstrating a real growth within their soundscape, an expansion of their eclectic experimentation.

“Cosmic Wind is us in our new zone,” Lion Babe said. “This album is in our vision to the fullest. We’ve brought on producers/artists/musicians who are good friends of ours and part of our core team, who’ve helped us take the music to the next level, embracing the sound we first began with.”

Catch these lovelies on the road: