Malphino is a mysterious band from an imaginative tropical island of the same name that plays cumbia and a heady mix of exotic sounds. Their music serves as a cinematic score to the backdrop of this mystical isle and its ethos.
The musicians of Malphino reinterpret the traditional banda, playing organ, accordion, tuba, and an array of percussion and rhythms from all corners of the world. Their unique take on the style is no doubt influenced by their diverse membership. Malphino is a gathering of nationalities whose members hail from Japan, Malaysia, Colombia, France, UK and the Philippines, and are based in London. This central idea of multiculturalism is the foundation for Malphino's conceptual music project.
Their first US-based single from Names You Can Trust features a pair of original tunes that dives deeper into the island's mythology. LALANGO, a folkloric tune about the ancient volcano and national holy mountain on Malphino, is delivered in a fantastic live cumbia rebajada style, a slow motion explosion of sound, adept to be broadcast from either the top of the mountain or in the valleys of the sonidero street corridors. REBUBLICA FEDERAL DE MAPLHINO, a song about one of the many local productions of the island, coffee, is naturally a jolt of high-octane caffeine - a joyous and frenetic celebration to round out this quick excursion to Malphino.