Luke Una

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙇𝙪𝙠𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙖’𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 É 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙈𝙧 𝘽𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙤. 𝘼 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚.

With two deeply cherished compilations already in the bag, Luke Una steps up for the third volume in his É Soul Cultura series on Mr Bongo. A love letter to the dancefloor and its power to unite people from all corners of society amid growing division and extremist politics. 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚-𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝟭𝟱 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡, 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙚, 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙤-𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚, 𝙨𝙡𝙤-𝙢𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨, 𝙙𝙧𝙪𝙢 𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙤, 𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙨-𝙗𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙢, 𝙟𝙖𝙯𝙯 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙠, 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤. Each having the ability to move the body as much as the heart.

Opening up the compilation is a track that channels that very message, the transcendental, soul-rousing Harris & Orr ‘Spread Love’. Joining the dots from there, to the low-slung deep house closer of Fatdog ‘Remember’, you’ll find electronic drum machine Nigerian funk, sitting side by side with dancefloor Cape Verdean brilliance, a post-punk cover of Fela Kuti, rubbing shoulders with cosmic electro, and an Una-championed, 8-minute, kickless DJ Harvey remix.

There’s jazz funk in various guises moving from boogie synth to astral travelling, slo-mo acidic raw techno, and a ‘79 soul stepper, alongside swirling percussive Italo disco and tribal-charged house. All infused with an innate ability to bring people together.