Ibibio Sound Machine share new song, “Mama Say”


On May 3, Ibibio Sound Machine release new album Pull the Rope via Merge. It’s one of our most anticipated albums of spring, and they’ve already shared a pair of excellent singles, including the Essential Track “Got to Be Who U Are.” Today they’ve shared another single, “Mama Say,” which you can check out below.
“This track is simply about honoring women. The main chorus vocal is sung in pidgin: ‘Mama say make I honor am’—in other words, ‘Mother says I must honor her,’” the group said in a statement. “It is essentially about empowering and uplifting the women in our lives. The track plays musically upon the tension between the traditional and the modern; the arpeggios in the chorus were played on a Juno 60, and the west African vocal stylings of the verse provide a contrasting feel to these electronic elements.”
Pull the Rope follows 2022’s Electricity.