JuJu | A GIANT LEAP

JuJu, the brainchild of Gioele Valenti, are back with a new album: ‘La Que Sabe’, out via Weird Beard Records. Sicilian multi-instrumentalist and producer Gioele Valenti is a key figure of the European underground music scene. He is one half of acclaimed Occult Psych project Llay Lamas (Rocket Recordings).
He is the man behind Herself, a folktronica project that involved the likes of Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev, John Fallon of The Steppes and Amaury Cambuzat of Faust and Ulan Bator. He was also the guitarist of Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation. Most importantly, he is the creator of the unclassifiable JuJu.
Championed by Goatman and Capra Informis of GOAT, JuJu have already released three albums (two of which with Fuzz Club Records) and left a permanent mark in the international Psychedelic scene and beyond. ‘La Que Sabe’ is “She who knows”, “The Great Mother”, the witch, the “Mater Obscura”.
Not by chance, the title conjures an imagery that is bound to the Mediterranean sea and lands, the Earth Magic and the Mother goddess in many ancient cultures. The cover shows a KAPALIKA, an Hindu monk who follows the doctrine of the “Left Hand Path”.
The music, however, has shifted, both sonically and geographically. JuJu’s self-titled debut (Sunrise Ocean Bender) encompassed a mix of rhythmic psychedelia, ancient myths and Mediterranean neopaganism and told the story of an on-going exodus from Africa.

The follow-up “Our Mother Was A Plant” (Fuzz Club), was even more forward-thinking and adventurous. It summoned all kinds of spirits with its rhythmic, otherworldly psychedelia, introducing shamanic mantras influenced by Afrobeat, Krautrock, Glam, Post Punk, Art Rock, drone and everything in between.
The third LP, “Maps & Territory” (Fuzz Club), reaffirmed and at the same time transcended JuJu’s unique formula. It deconstructed, reassembled and expanded their original vision, bordering Jazz territories.
The new album, “La Que Sabe”, is another game-changer. It marks an evolution from their signature sound, but also a return to the origins and to a much more “western” imagery, combining Post Punk, Shoegaze, Darkwave, Industrial, Synthpop, R’n’R with Dance, Club and Disco. Sonically, JuJu have somehow migrated from the South to the North, but without losing the mystical knowledge and experience gathered in their previous wanderings. The result is an infectious vibration that invites sacrilegious disco rituals with Shoegaze guitars, and much more.

Palermo, Italy
Tribal Psych
Weird Beard / Little Clouds / Fuzz Club Records

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PRESS QUOTES

“ … a tightly internalised and personalised twist. It comes from the heart and from the gut. … The result is a masterfully haunting set, and the passions and fervour of its entreaties ethereally linger in the memory.” — Record Collector Magazine

“‘JuJu’ is an album of sweepingly melodic music that still retains a strange kind of intimacy. Just when you thought you might never want to hear another ‘psych rock’ album again in your life, along comes an artist who resets the co-ordinates and makes the past seem startling new again.” —The Quietus

“…JuJu fuses elements of psychedelia, glam, prog and post-punk into a propulsive, melodic art rock. Valenti describes JuJu’s self-titled debut long-players as “my personal tribute to the big music I’ve always loved, regardless of genre.” But the album also has a more serious intention, sourcing the refugee crisis as its primary inspiration: ”Where I live in Sicily, we literally see children die among the waves.” For Valenti, the music and words “conspire with ancient symbols and arcane memory, something buried deep in the collective unconscious of the Mediterranean, to give voice to a ‘drowning’ culture.”” — MOJO Magazine

THE BLACK DELTA MOVEMENT
Nov 17 Sion (CH) – Point 11
Nov 19 Ainay-le-Chateau (FR) – Bistrot Culture
Nov 21 Roma (IT) – Amore & Psyche / 30 Formiche
Nov 24 Lyon (FR) – Le Farmer
Nov 25 Paris (FR) – L’International

CLUSTERSUN
Jun 23 Sestri Levante (GE, IT) – Circolo Matteotti Santa Vittoria
Jun 24 Domobianca (IT) – Mountain Sound Festival
(w/ Throw Down Bones, The KVB, Giobia)
Oct 27 Rouen (FR) – Le 3 Pieces / Braincrushing
Oct 29 Paris (FR) – L’International
Oct 30 Ainay-le-Chateau (FR) – Bistrot Culture
Oct 31 Troyes (FR) – The Message
Dec 01 Kumanovo (MK) – Caffe’ Bar Agora’
Dec 02 Sofia (BG) – Club Mixtape 5

JUJU
Oct 06 Munich (DE) – Import/Export
Oct 07 Milano (IT) – Arci Bellezza
Oct 12 Porto (PT) – Maus Habitos
Oct 13 Aveiro (PT) – GrETUA
Oct 14 Braga (PT) – RUM by Mavy

KARMA VOYAGE
Sept 16 Loc. Sezzadio (AL, IT) – Cascina Bellaria
Oct 06 Werne (DE) – Floz-K
Oct 08 Paris (FR) – L’International
Oct 09 Ainay-le-Chateau (FR) – Bistrot Culture

KODACLIPS
Aug 10 S. Piero in Bagno (IT) – Orso Bianco

ONE ELEVEN HEAVY
Jun 30 Valencia (E) – Radio City
Jul 01 Montblanc (E) – Musicall
Jul 02 Barcelona (E) – Black Lab
Jul 04 Santander (E) – Rock Beer the New
Jul 05 Ainay-le-Chateau (FR) – Bistrot Culture
Jul 06 Mannheim (DE) – Alter
Jul 07 Oberhausen (DE) – Static Roots Festival
Jul 09 S. Zenone degli Ezzelini (TV, IT) – Villa Albrizzi Marini
Jul 10 Montecarotto (AN, IT) – Off61
Jul 12 Sezzadio (AL, IT) – Cascina Bellaria
Jul 14 San Sebastian (E) – Altxerri
Jul 15 Gijon (E) – Subterránea Tizón

PAM RISOURIE’
Jul 30 Roma (IT) – Half Die Festival

PINHDAR
Aug 03 Cardiff (UK) – The Moon
Aug 04 Cardigan (UK) – Dr Sardonicus Psych Festival / The Cellar Cardigan
Aug 05 Swansea (UK) – Hangar 18

REV REV REV
Jun 10 Colle Val d’Elsa (SI, IT) – 1001 by Sonar