Andy Bell & Masal - Common Primitives

Common Primitives is the second collaborative album from Andy Bell, guitarist in Ride and onetime bassist in Oasis, and Masal, the Essex harp and synth duo of Özlem Simsek and Al Johnson. It is a meditative, quietly adventurous record that drifts from kosmische to astral jazz by way of Turkish folk melody and back again.

The trio builds from free-jammed ideas and lets the arrangements follow the vibe. Bell leaned on guitar loops this time, with Pharoah Sanders' 1977 album Pharoah as a touchstone, while Simsek adds vocals and harp to the opening "After Kâtibim," based on a Turkish folk song she sang as a child in Istanbul. From there the album travels through "I Swear We Are Infinite," the beatific "Soap And Water," "Tower Of Babylon" (named for Ted Chiang's novelette) and the cascading guitar of "The Morning Of The Trip," before closing with "Rudi's Dream - The Third Bardo."

The set also includes the group's first outing, 2023's Tidal Love Numbers, a sequence of four long, near-ambient pieces appearing on vinyl here for the first time.

This double LP edition pairs the new album with Tidal Love Numbers across four sides, the complete Bell and Masal story to date in one package.