Atabasca – Atabasca

A debut that feels less like an album and more like a film with no fixed script, this self-titled debut introduces Italian group Atabasca as masters of mood, space, and slow-burning groove. Blending jazz-funk, afrobeat, psychedelia, and the dusty allure of Italian soundtrack culture, the trio crafts a series of vivid, instrumental “scenes” that unfold somewhere between desert mirage and late-night escape. Released via Killer Groove records and recorded live in single takes, there’s a raw, organic pulse running through everything, with lap steel gliding over hypnotic rhythms, kalimba and percussion weaving subtle textures, bass and drums locking into grooves that feel both grounded and transportive. You can hear echoes of cinematic lineage, but it never slips into imitation; this is music that builds its own world, track by track. For fans of instrumental psych-funk acts like Surprise Chef and Khruangbin, this is one you don’t just play, you step inside it.