EYAA takes its name from a cry of encouragement tied to trance. The French-Ghanaian trio put out “Luku Luku” on Sharma Records on 2 October, the first of five singles leading to their first EP.

The voice is Kyekyeku‘s, a singer and guitarist from Accra who now lives in Bayonne, in south-west France, and has worked with highlife veterans Pat Thomas and Ebo Taylor. He formed the seven-piece Ah! Kwantou in 2019, and two of its members, bassist Kevin Bucquet and drummer Fred Faure, are the other two thirds of EYAA. In EYAA, Bucquet plays synths and runs the machines as well as the bass, and he, Faure and Kyekyeku composed “Luku Luku” together, with Kyekyeku writing the words.

Kyekyeku sings in Twi, pidgin and English over Faure’s drums and Bucquet’s bass, with synths and machines adding the electronics, and the grooves draw on afro-funk, highlife and afrobeat to make an afro-electro built for dancing.

This year the trio has played in France, in Accra at Les Francophonies Festival, and in Portugal at Tom de Festa Festival in Tondela.

Listen to “Luku Luku” HERE