Santrofi drops Amina single ahead of new album

The band describes the track, whose title honours a songbird found in the forests of Ghana, as a “disco highlife song which throws light on our childhood memories,” adding that it “draws from the past, pushing it into the future.”

‘Amina’ heralds a forthcoming Making Moves album via German label Outhere Records. Like most of the songs on the new album, ‘Amina’ was recorded and mixed by English sound engineer Jerry Boys in Munich and mastered in London.

“The album delves deep into raw highlife grooves but also introduces a new vibe of funk driven dancefloor bangers and soulful songs reflecting on life which is not always easy,” a statement notes about Making Moves.

The upcoming album also sees the band teaming up with some of the most exciting newcomers on Ghana’s music scene such as AratheJay, Kofi Jamar and Amerado.

An eight-piece band, Santrofi was formed five years ago by a group of young musicians with a shared love for highlife, the music they grew up with. Headed by bass player Emmanuel Kwadwo Ofori, the project unites some of Ghana’s best live musicians. The members have played in the bands of countless Ghanaian artists including Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and the late AB Crentsil. They have also shared stages and studios with Ghanaian stars like KiDi, Yaw Tog and Black Sherif.  

Behind the 2020 debut album Alewa, which peaked at No 1 on the World Music Charts Europe the same year, and 2023’s Deep Into Highlife, a collaborative effort with Berlin-based 14-piece brass band Omniversal Earkestra, Santrofi has been touring globally, with their most recent stop being Japan.