All eyes are on Islandman, an interplanetary musical trio from Istanbul who release their long anticipated, third album Godless Ceremony via Danish imprint and long-time home of the band, Music for Dreams.Islandman makes an incendiary, uplifting and psychedelic slew of music drawn from a world of make-believe, rooted in Anatolia. These 10 tracks (+ 3 additional exclusives on the vinyl) – all of which flirt with balearic, house, down-tempo and electronica with a global gaze - are awash with acid drenched electronic motifs and stuttering electronic drum machine syncopations. The group effortlessly sail the globe, dropping into the tropics of Ecuador (Amarnos Ahora),to Mali visiting North African desert blues masters Tamikrest (Tarhamanine Assinegh) and North India (Drums Of Colca) whilst never forgetting the music and poetry from the band's spiritual home, Anatolia (Kara Toprak).In Godless Ceremony we are withdrawn from time and place, delivered to a fantasy zone, dreamt up in the sea, gazing at the stars. It's a musical storyboard, that whilst conceived in Istanbul by producer, singer and multi instrumentalist Tolga Böyük, journeys to far off places, real and imagined.Hindustani tablas, Tibetan flutes, flamenco guitars, Anatolian Saz and Balinese (Bhasa) vocals all mesh within a concept (and coping mechanism) that contemplates daily routine as beautiful and meditative and as Tolga has appreciated over a testing two years in which he lost his father,"You can take part in a religious ceremony, search for supernatural powers, but sometimes you need to find happiness in small, everyday things".The record's tracklisting and flow, like it's production ambition and aesthetic, peaks and troughs and arguably perculates at the Underworld-esque title track Godless Ceremony, where Tolga takes front of stage delivering the lead vocal and playing the Saz, an Anatolian stringed guitar-like instrument. Islandman simply avoids boundaries and Godless Ceremony is ultimately their most open-minded work to date. The subtleties and deft electronic touches bewilder and their clear appreciation of music on a global level is an education for us all.
