Cut from material recorded in April 2021 at Fish Factory studios in London, the album's title 'Abbreviations' nods to the editing and post-production processes that trimmed the original recordings into seven succinct and intricate tracks. Making space for collaborators Ernesto Marichales (percussion), Miryam Solomon (vocals) and Valeria Pozzo (Violin, viola), it builds on the critically-acclaimed success of 'Sound & Reason' (supported by Gilles Peterson and Mary Anne Hobbs) to bring out different shades of the group's shape-shifting sound. 'Elevator Company' condenses twenty-minutes of jamming around Tal Janes' hypnotic guitar line into a low-lit lounge groove that subverts the tropes of elevator music associated with some forms of easy listening jazz. Featuring Solomon's wordless vocals, the piece blurs the lines between ambient and improvised music, creating a warm and intimate atmosphere reminiscent of classic R&B recordings. On a different tip, 'The Spin' is a trance-like freak-out drawing on the final reserves of energy at the tail end of two days of solid recording. Reflecting guitarist Janes' idea that 'music really starts happening after a while, once you feel like you have nothing left to offer,' the hypnotic rhythm section sets the tone for an fraught and frazzled guitar solo that seems to dissolve the very edges of time and space in the process. An album that speaks to Qwalia's endless capacity for self-renewal and uninhibited expression, Abbreviations takes it's cue from the group's name to communicate something ineffable about the nature of music, rhythm and sound that must be experienced to be truly understood.
