Débruit / Debruit

Débruit is the project of self-described Afro-beat surrealist Xavier Thomas, who mixes dance and hip-hop elements with traditional and contemporary sounds from around the globe. Born and raised in Brittany, Thomas played with recording as a small child and took up the saxophone at age nine, eventually expanding his repertoire to drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, and more as the years passed. Meanwhile, a childhood trip to Senegal helped spark his interest in global music and culture; eventually, after years of playing in bands, Thomas combined all of these passions as Débruit. After self-releasing 2006's To Nartik Kef, he issued his official, flamenco-tinged debut, Coupé Décalé, in 2008 on Musique Large, which was founded by like-minded French talents such as Rekick and Fulgeance. Thomas released another EP, 2009's Clé de Bras, with the imprint before moving to the London-based label Civil Music. His first release for the label was 2009's acclaimed EP Let's Post Funk, which featured the funky Jamie Woon and Om'Mas Keith collaboration "I'm Goin' wit You." The following year, Débruit embraced his love of world music more completely with the Spatio-Temporel EP and the charity EP Heartbeats for Haiti, which benefited the UNICEF Haiti Earthquake Children's Appeal and was crafted from samples of traditional Haitian music. Thomas delved into Turkish and Middle Eastern music for 2011's Sis Sürpriz EP and returned to African inspirations in 2012 for his first full-length, From the Horizon, which borrowed from traditional and contemporary styles of West African music. Later that year, the From the Horizon Remixed EP arrived, featuring collaborations with Mwëslee as well as Thomas' old friend Fulgeance. In 2013, Débruit's collaboration with Sudanese singer Alsarah, Aljawal (Traveler), arrived on Soundway.