Electric Jalaba

London-based Electric Jalaba create a hypnotic, irresistible tangle of Moroccan Gnawa, psychedelic funk, post-rock, dub and electronic dance music, where ancestral chants meet space-age synths, bouncing basslines and rhythms that refuse to sit still. The effect is like stumbling upon a secret ceremony in a basement nightclub.

Electric Jalaba’s music is rooted in Gnawa, a spiritual tradition forged through centuries of movement, memory and cultural exchange, with the torch carried by frontman Simo Lagnawi and his captivating mastery of the three-stringed guembri. The rest of the band — four multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist brothers, Henry, Oliver, Nathaniel and Barney Keen, alongside their longtime collaborator, drummer and producer Dave De Rose — approach the tradition less like museum curators than curious alchemists, stretching its trance-inducing pulse into strange new forms. The members’ impressive catalogue of projects, collaborations and musical excursions beyond Electric Jalaba offers a glimpse into the breadth and diversity of influences bubbling away beneath the surface.

On record and on stage, the band chase that elusive sensation known as el hal — the feeling of being swept away by music, losing your bearings while somehow arriving exactly where you need to be. Electric Jalaba don’t simply invite you to dance; they open a door and let the music draw you through it.