SHE Spells Doom takes us through a stellar selection of tripped-out drum workouts.
Wamya Tembo has been making visceral club music as SHE Spells Doom for over a decade, iterating on his ’80s sci-fi soundtrack-infused formula with puzzle box drum programming and intuitive feeling for atmosphere. The alias serves as the culmination of a life spent making music for the Zambian artist, first as a rapper and producer, with a brief spell spent as a nu-disco, funk and boogie producer, before channeling years spent in nightclubs in Geneva into a more driving, dance floor focused project. Alongside the science-fiction scores Tembo draws from Congolese rhumba and soukous, gqom and early ’00s rap production in an irresistible, bass and percussion-heavy approach to club music.
Describing his Fact mix as “a warped 60-minute trip featuring drummy club cuts of all forms and shapes for your listening pleasure,” Tembo takes us through a stellar selection of tripped-out drum workouts, never leaving us space to stop moving for even a second. Opening with DJ Pitch’s dreamy r&b mutation ‘It Never Goes,’ a nod to the producer’s always exceptional All Centre imprint, on which Tembo released his essential Bossano EP last year, SHE Spells Doom runs the gamut of drum-centric, contemporary club sounds.
Weaving through Peder Mannerfelt’s 100BPM techno lollop for Nervous Horizon, Ikonika’s intricate touch on Swimful’s lethal amapiano variations, Bristol bass weight from Drumheller, sinewy rolling rhythms from Tzusing, the hyperactive, accelerated dancehall bubble of De Schuurman and jacked-up soca from Jsport, Tembo aims for the drums and never misses, driving constantly with loose forward momentum. The lysergic glow of Perko and Huerco S.’s skippy ear worm ‘Prang’, the bass blitzkrieg of Hyas’s ‘Elsewhere’ and Whatever The Weather’s gauzy breakbeat drifter ’17°C’ draw us to a suitably twisted close, serotonin spiking and sweat flecked, the perfect end to a trip that stays in the system for weeks after it’s over.
You can find SHE Spells Doom on Instagram, Bandcamp and SoundCloud.
Tracklist:
DJ Pitch – ‘It Never Goes’
Peder Mannerfelt – ‘Für Immer’
Bobmo – ‘One Leg’
David Bailey – ‘Girls Like That!’ (Soul Session Mix)
Swimful – ‘Translation to Heaven’ (Ikonika Remix)
Drumheller – ‘Stigmata’
SpacePose – ‘Nyakazisa’
Tzusing – ‘Muscular Theology’
Arma – ‘Sequencing’ (Esengo Edit)
Wilhelmina – ‘Hissing Moth’
SHE Spells Doom – ‘1000 Machines ‘(Unreleased)
De Schuurman – ‘Poenka’
Paul Marmota – ‘Hum’
JSPORT – ‘Gully Bop’
Hrdvsion – ‘Captivated Heart’ (SHE Spells Doom Remix) (Unreleased)
Lxury – ‘Xtina’
Perko – ‘Prang’ [Feat. Huerco S.]
Hyas – ‘Elsewhere’
Whatever The Weather – ’17°C’
Listen next: Fact Mix – Josh Caffé
