Take a look outside your window: shit’s getting serious. We’re living through a particularly bleak paradigm, with ominous political shifts occurring around the globe. It’s time for a rallying war-cry, to tap into the power of our ancestors, to learn the wisdoms taught by history and its recurring patterns. It’s time to acknowledge the power of women, to burn with the fire of a banshee wail, to taste the energy of revolution and feel the inspiration of generations of resistance. And that’s where Ascend, the second album by insurrectionary heavy rock trio Vodun, comes in.

Ten slabs of ground-flattening, groove-inflected rock power, driven by the afro-inspired dervish drums of Zel Kaute (interpreting the spirits of Ogoun), the roaring, fierce chromium guitars of Linz Hamilton (The Marassa), and fronted by the fire-breathing howl of frontwoman Chantal Brown (Oya), delivering you the truth of generations with a drive and focus that can’t be matched.

‘Spirits Past’ is our first taste of Ascend, due for release on September 7 via New Heavy Sounds, the first new music from Vodun since the release of their critically-acclaimed debut album, Possession, in 2016. “Spirits Past’ is a war cry,” explains Chantal. “Recognising the similarities in previous global events within our own current state of affairs, allows us to gain an understanding of what our ancestors did to battle such prejudices. This feeling of déjà vu pushes us to draw upon the strength and tenacity of all peoples, their lives and spirits, who have already laid the foundations for the advancement of equality within every civilisation.”

“The first song we wrote for the album was 'Spirits Past',” says Chantal, “and that’s tackling our current climate. You have to ask yourself: haven’t we been here before? Are we going backwards? It’s easy to slip into the abyss of negativity, destruction and despair. But look at history: we need to keep fighting, and listen to people who’ve already fought this fight, and realise the war isn’t over.”

The song was produced by BRIT Award winning Tom Dalgety (Royal Blood, Ghost, Turbowolf), who brought his unparalleled heavy & clean balance to the bands sound, and several interesting harmony ideas, which was very much welcomed by Chantal.

No Disclosure album to announce. No Disclosure live shows to announce, but a brand-new single for the summer featuring Malian musician, Fatoumata Diawara.

“Sorry it’s been a while - we have been missing you all immensely, so we wanted to share with you something we’ve been working on now the sun is shining and the trees are green. A few months ago, we stumbled across an amazing female vocalist named Fatoumata Diawara. While digging through her discography we discovered this beautiful sample and started messing around, having fun and experimenting with it. The result is our new song, ‘Ultimatum’.”

Fatoumata releases her new album Fenfo (Something To Say) on Friday, and has a number of shows scheduled throughout the summer in Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, the UK and more.