Steam rooms have a variety of innocent and not-so-innocent connotations today, but how many of you non-South Africans associate such an establishment with your run-of-the-mill dance club?
Certainly the “steam room” name applies when you consider the humidity and array of body odors that necessarily come with humans meat-packed and working up a sweat; and wouldn’t you know it, the people of Durban, South Africa, were fond, until recently, of using the phrase/term exactly in that context. A press release points out how the Durban-borne gqom genre of music was initially played in these steam rooms, and so also explains a partial inspiration for the new collaborative EP between two South Africa-borne producers: DJ Lag and Okzharp (also of Okzharp & Manthe Ribane). Ick, I feel sticky already. Where’s my aircon button?
Steam Rooms is set for release July 19 on Hyperdub. Listen to the track “Nyusa” below to get a sense of where Lag and Okzharp and taking the gqom style. Personally, I think it’s relatively difficult to discern a London impression (Okzharp is currently based in London), but some people insist that it’s there. Maybe in the synth that swells periodically. Probably not in the tribal chanting.
Pre-order Steam Rooms here.
Steam Rooms EP tracklisting:
01. Now What
02. Steam One
03. Nyusa
04. Sambe
