Sinkane - Depayse (LP)

Sinkane’s Dépaysé lands like a bright postcard from a complicated year, a reminder that joy and protest can share the same dance floor. Released May 31, 2019 on City Slang, it finds Ahmed Gallab leaning into the word on the cover, that French feeling of being out of place and out of step, and turning it into a groove-forward statement about belonging anyway. He has always been a master blender, and this one pulls soul, Sudanese pop, psych, and funk into a buoyant, sunlit mix that still carries the weight of what pushed it into being.

Gallab’s story sits in the music. He was born in Sudan, raised in the US, and spent years linking worlds, from helming the Atomic Bomb! tribute to William Onyeabor to fronting a band that knows how to stretch a pocket until it becomes a landscape. Dépaysé sounds like the work of a live unit who trust each other. Longtime players Elenna Canlas, Jonny Lam, Ish Montgomery, and Jason Trammell are all here, and you can hear that road-tested ease in the way the rhythm section moves with quick, springy purpose while guitars shimmer and keyboards lift the melodies into warm air. The arrangements are tight but never stiff. Things breathe. Choruses arrive like a friend walking through an open door.

The title track lays out the thesis with an easy sway and lyrics that look straight at displacement while choosing celebration. It is not escapism. It is resolve. Gallab sings in a clear, elastic voice that can ride a chant or lean into a tender line, and he lets the percussion do a lot of talking. Hand drums and drum kit intertwine, a reminder of all the parties thrown in the face of bad headlines. When horns show up, they feel earned, not ornamental.

“Ya Sudan” hits even harder now. Written in the shadow of upheaval back home, it is both love letter and rallying cry, and the band answers with a pulse that feels communal. The arrangement speaks to what makes Sinkane special. He threads Arabic and English inflections together without fuss, building bridges inside the bar lines. You can hear the legacy of East African rhythms, 70s New York disco, and the psychedelic snap of Onyeabor in the same tune, then walk away humming the hook.

Dépaysé drew a lot of praise for its optimism, but it is not naive. The record carries a conversational tone about heavy things. Gallab has said he wrote much of it while feeling unmoored in America, and you can hear that push and pull. Yet every time the lyrics edge toward worry, the groove steadies the ground under his feet. That is the trick. The politics live in the pocket. A lesser band would preach. Sinkane dances, and the message lands anyway.

On vinyl, the album really opens up. The low end blooms, shakers sit in their own little halos, and the guitars have that nice glassy sting that digital sometimes files down. If you are looking to buy Sinkane records online, this is an easy starting point, and it pairs well with earlier Sinkane albums on vinyl like Mean Love and Life & Livin’ It for a full-picture weekend spin. I’ve seen Dépaysé vinyl turn up in the new arrivals bin often enough that it feels like a quiet favorite, the sort of record someone at the counter will recommend with a knowing nod. Whether you grab it from a Melbourne record store while traveling or sift it out of a local shop that loves global funk, it rewards a full front-to-back listen.

Part of the lasting appeal is how human it feels. The melodies are welcoming, the rhythm section plays like a single organism, and Gallab never oversings. You’re in the room with a band that believes music can still be a place to feel seen. That is why Dépaysé hits. It does not just talk about home. For forty-some minutes, it builds one.

For collectors and new fans alike, Sinkane vinyl tends to age well because the arrangements are built for space and repetition. Dépaysé is no exception. It is rich without clutter, political without lectures, and charming without smoothing over its edges. File it next to your favorite worldly funk and soul records, and let it raise the temperature of the room. If your search history has you hovering over a cart that says buy Sinkane records online, go ahead and click. There is a good chance this one becomes the copy you lend to friends who ask what they should play next. And if you care about where to find good pressings, plenty of shops that specialize in vinyl records Australia stock it, too.