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Malta’s very first world music band *etnika is launching its brand new album Maddalena’s Marvellous Tripfolk Klabb with two shows this weekend in Valletta.

They have chosen a relatively unknown venue, Sala San Duminku, a small underground tier-seated theatre in the middle of the capital city, the perfect setting for a Tripfolk Klabb.

The band, which formed in 2000, recently embarked on a new musical direction while remaining true to that which it has always been known for: finding creative ways to present aspects of traditional Maltese music and culture.

This new album is the result of the band regrouping with a streamlined set-up following an eight-year hiatus. They revisited some of the music created since their last recording in 2003 and also wrote six new tracks which are still based on some aspect of traditional Maltese music, whether it is lyrics from 1930s recordings, a traditional għana song, folk rhymes or a popular tune.

The album features effected guitars, retro-futuristic synths, unconventional percussion and footwork, deep, groovy bass, raspy sax and haunting whispery vocals. These are offset by the use of raw traditional folk instruments like the tanbur, żummara, bijambo, żafżafa and flejguta, all played in original ways within the new soundscape.

■ *etnika’s first public performance of the newly-pressed songs is taking place this Saturday and Sunday at Sala San Duminku, 152, Merchant’s Street, Valletta at 8.30pm, with doors opening at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from www.ticketline.com.mt or from the Embassy Cinema Box Office in Valletta and include a CD. Seating is limited to 200 persons every night. The project is supported by Arts Council Malta – Malta Arts Fund. For more information on the band, visit http://etnikamalta.bandcamp.com .