Racines releases debut single “Market Miracolo”

Racines, meaning ‘roots,’ is a project that first formed in 2022 as a duo that brings together Rokeya and Anissa, two artists whose backgrounds stretch across cultures, geographies and diverse musical spheres. Rokeya was born in London with Indian, Italian and Welsh heritage, moving between roles as a producer, performer, selector and curator. Anissa, of Italian and Algerian heritage, arrives from a different but complementary direction, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist deeply connected to traditional forms.

Separately, their practices orbit distinct musical languages and together, they create something fiercely original, where those differences collide as a shared sonic identity. Racines operates as a meeting point, a place where ancestral memory and cutting edge electronic music fold into one another, informed by what they describe as lands facing south, drawing from a wide, interconnected cultural landscape.

It’s a project that embraces heritage as something living, continually developing and open to reinterpretation. Seeds, fire and roots form a recurring symbolic language around the endeavour, hinting at growth, transformation and continuity. Archaic sonorities sit alongside electronics, coalescing into a highly unique and thoroughly transportive musical vision set to crystallise on their forthcoming debut album Arilos Mennar.

Set for release on the 5th of June via the Locomotiv Records imprint, the album draws on layered meanings; Arilos refers to the seeds of the pomegranate, a fruit long associated across the Mediterranean with ideas of resilience, rebirth, life and death. Mennar, drawn from Algerian Arabic, translates to “from fire,” evoking a generative, primal feminine force. Ahead of the full release, the duo unveils the lead single titled “Market Miracolo,” a track that revolves around the idea of an inner journey, where love, shadow and light remain in constant exchange.

The thematic focus of the song is the image of the market, not simply as a physical space but as a living organism, a place where cultures, languages and encounters overlap and influence each other. It becomes a metaphor for the wider human experience, a site of crossings where identities are shaped and reshaped through interaction. Brought in by the patter of hand percussion, a hypnotic rhythm forms as an array of vocal sample layers paint a sonic picture of a market as the wobble of pulsing bass ushers in lively vocalisations.

Rolling with driving momentum, the ebb and flow of the drums maintains a shifting swell of motion as the track glides through passages of flickering melodic flourishes and moments of trance-inducing groove, resulting in an arresting slice of Eastern-inflected avant-garde music. As the track surges with jumpy footwork-esque rhythm, the track reaches a dramatic finale of danceable energy and stacks of vocal layers to deliver a rush of sonic intensity.

That sense of movement extends into the album’s fabric, with Arilos Mennar playing out across pulsating rhythms and shifting textures, drawing from multiple traditions while threading in Arabic, Italian, Spanish, French and Ladino lyrical styles. Making a spectacular entrance with their first single and with their debut LP on the way, Racines are set to make a significant impact with their groundbreaking musical output and we can’t wait to see what comes next.

Listen to Market Miracolo below

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