gnawa is a uniquely moroccan sound with roots in islam and links to a healing ritual called lila (arabic for night). from this heritage comes innov gnawa, the only new york-based gnawa group made from moroccan natives, led by the mâalem (master) hassan ben jaafer. in 2016, pique-nique recordings presented their debut ep together and, since then, the band have also featured on bambro koyo ganda from bonobo s latest album. aicha is their much anticipated follow-up. alongside the joyous call and response between the maalem and the group that s common in gnawa, there are also hints of electronic programming interspersed between the traditional live instrumentation no doubt an influence of nicolas jaar collaborator dave harrington who produced the ep.