The “Rice & Peace EP”, out 9th December, is the next instalment of high-quality electronic, hip hop and Afrobeat rhythms from the talented Lakuta to be released on Tru Thoughts. This 8-track EP highlights the cleverly named “Rice & Peace” from their debut album ‘Brothers & Sisters’ alongside a collection of new remixes from Dorylus, Dizraeli, V.B.Kühl, Captain Over and J-Felix.

The EP opens with the socially conscious “Rice & Peace” which blends a polyrhythmic furore of shakers with the funky 4-note riff of the electric guitar to create a hypnotic cycle, similar to the high energy of Congolese Soukous music. Next up, J-Felix’s remix of the title track sees him apply luring synths and heavy reverb to the political protest song. The arrangement of J-Felix’s remix takes inspiration from producers & DJ’s O'Flynn and Debruit, and live African dance music collective Afriquoi’s outputs.

Producer duo Dorylus thread notes of euphoria through their Balearic Jerk Re-Rub of “Rice & Peace” to create an uplifting thrill ride that pops and blooms into a heart-whelming listening experience. Dorylus is the pseudonym of London based Paul Crognale and Angus Paterson, founders of the much lauded and collectible Bokhari records. Recently remixing Public Service Broadcasting and Tythe (Sunday Best), the keen crate diggers are just as influenced by Afrobeat as they are by 90's producers (from Photek to Larry Heard, and anything in between).

The Bristol-born rapper, poet and musician Dizraeli (who’s been championed by The Independent, The Times and Songlines) puts a political spin with a hip hop flow on his remix of “Bata Boy”. His salient words stem from his own experiences of growing up as a bisexual man in the West Country, and speak out about the wider prejudices and pressures faced by the LGBT community, all whilst slipping in and out of his regional accent. He explains: “I think it’s important that we’re ultra-vigilant about how we talk and what we allow, because the way we conceptualise lays the ground for the way we behave”.

In his remix of “So Sue Us”, V.B.Kühl crafts a golden dancefloor track with a defining rhythm and positive feeling that filters in through a catchy, percussion driven groove. “I decided to remix “So Sue Us” because of its energy” V.B.Kühl enthuses. “I tried to catch that energy and wanted to give it a clubby touch”. Based in Frankfurt, Germany, the DJ, remixer and multi-instrumentalist V.B.Kühl has caught the attention of DJ Shadow and recently produced the popular remix of Anchorsong’s “Last Feast” which saw support from Huw Stephens (BBC R1) & Tom Ravenscroft (BBC 6Music).

Captain Over uses glitchy synths to paint melodic sequences under the breathy vocals of Siggi in their remix of DJ favourite “Ultimate Robot”.