Premiere: Troumaca - Clouds (Caresser Les Nuages)

If asked to name a Caribbean-influenced band from Birmingham, most minds would jump to merlot fans UB40 and their world-dominating cod reggae. But if there’s a god, then Ali Campbell’s star will one day be eclipsed by Troumaca, the latest signing to Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood imprint.

The Brummie five-piece’s latest single, the third to be taken from the forthcoming ‘Virgin Islands’ EP, is a cockle-warming marriage of dub rhythms and spiralling jingle-jangles that conjures images of white sand and endless blue sky.

Hi, Troumaca! Could you introduce yourselves to Dummy readers?

We’re Troumaca. Hello Dummy readers. How are you? We hail from Birmingham, the sunniest city in the UK.

What have you been up to lately?

We’re locked away, making a record. We’re in very, very deep. We just played a show at Birthdays, Dalston, and aparently nobody could get in after the first song. We’re in London this Friday playing Koko.

How did you first get into making music together?

It’s the classic, romantic story that you can’t really explain. Some of us are school mates, and the rest of us met out and about at music places. We jammed together, and grew and grew.

Wikipedia tells me that Troumaca is a small town in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; apparently it’s also “a beautiful place to visit”. Have you ever been?

Yes. Geoff’s family are from the island and it really is a wonderful, inspiring place. It is the least spoiled of the Caribbean islands. There are hardly any tourists there. Apart from Johnny Depp, who has a massive house there.

It’s a great name – fits with the tropical, escapist vibes of your music, which I’m sure makes music writers everywhere pine for summer. What inspires you?

Our inspirations are all the things that warm the soul; gold, women and wine.

What’s going on in Birmingham that we should know about?

Troumaca. Also, we know Soul II Soul are making an appearance with us at Mostly Jazz Fest this July. Hot ticket.

Brownswood will release the ‘Virgin Islands’ EP on 25th February 2013