Drawing together an eclectic mix of cultural and spiritual influences, Marseille-based band Watcha Clan seek to define their own identity on their fifth album Radio Babel. They pour an enormous amount of creativity into 56 minutes plus of music while delivering a serious message with a sense of humour and a passion that runs deep. If you’re a fan of Lo’Jo, Manu Chao, Natacha Atlas, Tinariwen or Amparanoia you’ll love Watcha Clan, who absorb musical traditions like a sponge, using programming and sampling to take the multicultural melting pot idea to another sonic level. Ancient instruments including the Armenian duduk, Arabic oud and North African gumbri sit alongside laptop and keyboards as if their union was written in the stars, while catchy melodies and funky grooves suck you into the inventive sound world that is Radio Babel.

Watcha Clan take the concept of the Tower of Babel and reimagine it as a prototype radio transmitter, broadcasting the sound of unity – the world singing and dancing as one – for the 21^st century. The loping camel gait rhythm of the opening track, With Or Without The Wall, gives way to the anthem We Are One, weaving Sista K’s half-sung, half-spoken vocals in English, Spanish and French from the first track, around a catchy chorus in the second, each song conveying the theme of breaking down borders: “Land and men – who does the land belong to – men or God? Nobody owns the land – land is free – so, why walls, why borders? Entre los Estados Unidos y Mexico, wall! Entre l’Afrique et l’Europe, wall! Entre Isaac et Ismael, wall! Et à Berlin the wall is down.” We Are One also provides the soundtrack to the short yet powerful film on the album which captures the fear and desperation of migrants risking their lives to cross the wall between Mexico and the US and make it across the desert in search of a better life. The film in turn feeds the music with sampled quotes.

We Are One from WATCHA CLAN on Vimeo.

The tranquil moments never last long on Radio Babel but they appear just at the right time, perfectly conceived. After the electronic bleeps, rock guitars, ululating women, clapping and percussion of the hypnotic Algerian song Hasnaduro, comes the gorgeous duduk melody from Merlin Shepherd that gently swirls around Sista K’s entrancing vocals against a subtle backdrop of brass in Im Nin’Alu Intro. But before you get too settled in this rather dreamy, filmic landscape, Suprem Clem whizzes you back into a world of electronic buzzery, playfully echoing and deconstructing Sista K’s vocals amid doorbell samples, a ringing telephone and the oompah Balkan brass of Im Nin’Alu, while Shepherd’s clarinet decorates the laidback vibe that infuses this 17th century Hebrew poem. In the blink of an eye we are transported to yet another setting on Il etait une fois dans l’est – a crowing cockerel accompanies a whistling Olivier Boulleray amid the sound of sawing wood and delicate bird song as the plinking banjo of Maurice Lo Cicero introduces a Franco-Yiddish song (conjuring up the German cabaret of Bertolt Brecht) complete with quirky percussion, Pee Wee’s romantic Gypsy fiddle, husky French vocals and the dying crackle of rotating vinyl. The contrasts continue as Fever Is Rising blasts us into relentless drum ‘n’ bass, peppered with speech samples – “It is time to make peace with the Planet”/”Out of sight and out of mind” – and a rather catchy melody featuring Mehdi Haddab on oud, which is juxtaposed with the Spanish/American flavoured Tangos Del Cachito a la Manu Chao.

Other album highlights include Maurice El Medioni’s oriental piano on Viens, Viens introducing an Arabic song with an irritatingly addictive French chorus spliced with repetitive child-like vocals; and the pumping brass and slithering cimbalom of Fanfare Ciocarlia set to a drum ‘n’ bass backing on Gypsy Dust. Ultimately, though, each track is a miniature work of art that collectively Watcha Clan fashion into a sumptuous whole to reveal something new each time you listen. If their album, video and comic strip serve to highlight the futility of borders around the world and spread their message of uniting people to destroy boundaries everywhere, then Radio Babel is surely a cause for celebration.