Man Made Object

On their third album, GoGo Penguin marry energetic acoustic jazz playing with intricate electronic-inspired compositions. With parallels to pianists Robert Glasper or Brad Mehldau’s sly takes on indie pop and soul, the British trio conjure glitchy club sounds (“Weird Cat”) and hypnotic fusions (“Unspeakable World”) using a traditional framework: Chris Illingworth’s cascading piano melodies pirouet around Nick Blacka’s double bass and Rob Turner’s drumming. They combine in flowing meditations (“All Res”) and frenetic drum ‘n’ bass-worthy beats (“Smarra”) alike—one techno soul living in a fiery, three-headed bop body.

GoGo Penguin's latest album comes on the heels of a revival of sorts for jazz music, when artists like Kendrick Lamar, David Bowie, Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington fused the genre with their own blends of rap, rock, electronica and soul. Man Made Object, the band's third album, resides in similar space; many of its 10 tracks started as electronic compositions, created on Logic and Ableton by the group’s percussionist.

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Sequenced electronics meet live group improv on a captivating album from this jazz-adjacent trio

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