Space Afrika - Somewhere Decent To Live

Much-needed new edition of the Manchester duo's debut LP, first issued back in the seemingly forever ago of 2018. Their star's truly been in the ascent since then, aligning with the latest renaissance/re-generation of Manchester's new electronic underground ala Rat Heart, Michael J Blood, YOUTH, and of course the label they found a home in, Sferic. Even within that context and their own growing catalogue, Somewhere Decent To Live, a title replete as it is with such charged political subtext, continues to feel like a watershed moment. Folding the emotional resonance of Burial into the minimal, submerged dub of Chain Reaction and labeling with an impenetrable Aphex-like nomenclature ('uwëm/creātiōn', 'u+00b1', 'drēd' etc), they capture a sense of alien narrative, that feeling of being adrift in the city of the night, amidst its mist under the gloom. It's a poignant portrait of two people navigating a landscape, exploring a vision and expressing their own wordless story, a new psychogeography for a place coming alive again. Tony Wilson woulda been proud. If Honest Labour got all the flowers, Somewhere Decent To Live is still the high watermark moment that first opened the gates.