This spring, one of Belarus’ most extraordinary groups Shuma released their second album, “Sonca”, which blends local folk tradition with the latest trends in electronic/club music.

They first presented their “digital archaic” technique on last year’s debut album, “Zhnivo”, which appeared in our Best of 2015. Their mixture of modern sound and pre-Christian themes, exceptional not only for the local scene, now reaches a new level on “Sonca” (“Sun”).

On this second effort, Shuma clearly focused on keeping all the material as coherent as possible – if only because was created as a soundtrack for a fashion show. Hence the mood and tempo remain consistent throughout the whole album. Shuma’s approach to tradition has also changed, with old melodies being just inspirations rather than direct quotes.

While you can stream “Sonca” LP in its entirety on their Soundcloud just like thousands of listeners already have, here’s a video for one of the album’s highlights, “Rano Rano”, which will also give you an idea of what Shuma look like on stage.

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Shuma on Soundcloud, Facebook, www.