1LP Edition Release Date: 27/3/2026 Label: Killer Groove Records
CD Edition Release Date: 27/3/2026 Label: Killer Groove Records
Description
"Atabasca" marks the debut release from the cinematic funk trio, dropping March 27th on limited edition LP, CD digipack and digital formats, the latter featuring an exclusive bonus track. This is a project built on evocative imagery: each song unfolds as an open scene, an emotional landscape where listeners can step inside and write their own ending.
Lap steel, kalimba, percussion and guitars interweave with bass and drums, striking an original balance between tradition and experimentation that evokes unwritten soundtracks for worlds at once distant and familiar. The record navigates between melancholy and irony, tension and release, with a sharp focus on dynamics and sonic narrative.
Deserts, seas, imaginary villages, getaways, pursuits and collective rituals: "Atabasca" emerges as a collection of musical landscapes that unfolds through vivid, evocative imagery.
Jazz-funk, world music, afrobeat, psychedelia and the Italian Golden Age of movie soundtracks merge into a singular emotional geography: warm, analog and deeply human.
The musical journey opens with "Dune", a melancholic statement that leaves room for imagination, before igniting with "Kundela Mawedi" and its cascading lap steel over haunting vocal chants. "Paco" tips its hat to classic westerns, tracing a bandit's trajectory, while "Cameo" drifts back to childhood through minimal rumba and shimmering kalimba. The cinematic imagery continues in "Cacopoulos", a nod to Spaghetti westerns and Eli Wallach, built on raw drum patterns and distorted guitars. Intensity builds in "Khettara", where afrobeat rhythms and Middle Eastern textures intertwine, before "Hell Dorado" tears off in pursuit of the American dream's funk-fueled mirage. "Papambra" weaves hypnotic polyrhythms between kalimba and lap steel, while "Porpora" delivers a sensual, visceral tango of passion and tension. The digital edition closes with "Reprise", a sequel that stretches the album's central theme into an expansive, meditative interpretation.
The tracks were recorded in single takes, capturing the raw energy and natural atmosphere of the performance. Artistic production was handled by the trio alongside Andrea Fabrizii (digger, musician, producer and catalogue curator for CAM Sugar), while Riccardo Ricci mastered the album at Velvet Room Mastering Studio in Brighton.
Like a desert blooming within the evergreen forests of the planet's far north, a unique, alien, disruptive environment. This is the vision behind Atabasca, the project of Luca Mongia (guitars, lap steel, keyboards, vocals), Paolo Mazziotti (bass, keyboards, vocals) and Valerio Pompei (drums, percussion, vocals).
Individually active for over twenty years on both the national and international scenes, the three Italian musicians came together in 2023 to create a project that merges experience, experimentation and creative freedom. Their music is imaginative and at times dreamlike, blending the classic concept of the instrumental trio with the worlds of film scoring and sound design.
Atabasca's sound moves through jazz-funk, world and cinematic territories, weaving together afrobeat, desert and psychedelic influences into a personal and timeless language. Each piece is a scene; each sound, a fragment of a world, a journey between reality and imagination where groove, texture and organic timbre merge into a singular sonic ecosystem: a perpetually shifting balance that generates new inner landscapes.
For fans of Khruangbin, Surprise Chef and instrumental psych-funk!
All original product is sealed or brand new condition. However, if an item is defective (sealed and unused) Please send us proof of item and we will be happy to exchange the defective copy for a replacement of the same item within the first week after receiving the return item from you. If a replacement isn't available, we will offer you a store credit or refund (your choice). There will not be a shipping charge for this exchange.
For international returns, any customs or import duties, taxes and all other charges paid on return shipments are the solely your responsibility. In the event you refuse your package, only the purchase price will be refunded. All costs, duties, fees, or taxes are your responsibility and will not be refunded to you.
If items are not delivered because you gave us incorrect information, or because your post office was unable to deliver the package because there was no-one to receive it, We will refund you for the cost of the items only, but not for the postage charges. Provided the items are still available, we can re-send the items at your request one time only and you will have to pay all shipping fees.
Requests for refunds must be made within 30 days of the purchase date. We will not refund after such date for any reason whatsoever.
All items must be in original condition and show no signs of use, and must be returned in original vendor packaging.
We do not provide a refund or replacement for items that have been scanned as delivered by FedEx, Post Office or SF Express. If your package tracks as delivered, but you have not received it, please inquire with your local FedEx, mail carrier or at your local post office branch.
We cannot accept unwanted/incorrect items that have been opened. Please make sure you pack your return securely. If an item is returned to us in an unsuitable condition due to poor packaging then we may have to send it back to you without a refund.