Tijuana Cartel - M1

Combining the old with the new, Tijuana Cartel have splattered their melting pot of influences all over M1, taking the listener on a round-the-world journey of sonic discovery. The flamenco-flickered For The People begins life in a sleepy Middle Eastern village before plunging to the depths of an East London warehouse rave; Mr Joshua Sinclair island-hops in the Caribbean with African tribesmen bashing away on conga drums before the dancefloor-friendly recent single Letting It Go drops anchor in a sweaty Sao Paulo street party. Perhaps M1 is less about escape and more about escapism. What strikes you most about M1 and its apparent departure from a trademark Tijuana Cartel sound is that, just like life on the road, the further you get away from home, the closer you are to being there again. M1 is not a world music record, but a record that spans the globe. It visits every continent, references every culture, yet lives in the here and now. It’s a musical odyssey that began life in the Gold Coast and will die only when Tijuana Cartel’s tour van can take them no further. It’s familiar and foreign all at once, a departure and return rolled into one. It’s a bold new step for Tijuana Cartel, and the first of many for a band that refuses to be confined to any one style, or any one place.

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