Nairobi-based electronic musician / sound-artist Joseph Kamaru - KMRU - signs to Injazero for the release of his beautiful compendium album Logue, comprising works from his past years of self-releasing via Bandcamp.

KMRU is uniquely positioned between the cultures of ambient and African musics, entwining his compositions with field recordings from his native Kenya and the surrounding countries of East Africa. Formed of tracks written from 2017 to 2019, Logue represents an artist not only in command of his form but also evolving, ready to deconstruct and radically refocus his music to explore new contours of experimental and ambient sound-design. “Every track reflects an event, space or location,” Joseph writes. “The pieces are developed from field recordings, improvisation and spontaneity.”

Some of the earliest compositions found on Logue - 2017’s “Jinja Encounters”, for example - represent Joseph’s first trips outside his homeland and the experience of new sights and new climates, full of discovery and wonder. The synth line of 2018’s “Argon” pops and bubbles, mimicking bright African melodic vibrancy while a churning, static distortion threatens to breach the surface, revealing a sophisticated, measured understanding of texture and timbral interplay. “OT”, from late 2018, jumps with joyous calls and deftly panned arrhythmic percussion, a new subtlety of light and dark gained from experience and experimentation. Consistent across the entire album is intensely personal and powerfully intuitive expression, crossing continental divides with a singular elegance. [info sheet from distr.]