Butu Explained

Butu
Type:studio
Artist:Kokoko!
Cover:Kokoko! - Butu.png
Length:51:47
Label:Transgressive
Producer:Débruit (Xavier Thomas)
Chronology:Kokoko! studio album
Prev Title:Fongola
Prev Year:2019

Butu (Lingala for "night") is the second studio album by Congolese experimental electronic pop musical group Kokoko!, released on 5 July 2024 through Transgressive Records. The album received positive reviews from critics.

Critical reception

Butu received a score of 85 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on five critics' reviews, which the website categorised as "universal acclaim". Mojo felt that "Kokoko! again deliver a banging, agitational rave-up that's impossible to stay a wallflower to". Brad Sked of DIY called it "a synth-driven assault on the senses" and concluded that "from its breakneck bonkers energy, to the more slowed-down moments, this is absolutely one for the ravers". Adriane Pontecorvo of PopMatters called Kokoko! "an already thrilling group entering a new and even more elevated creative state" on the album, who are "getting more interesting in their fusions of techno, tradition, and imaginative DIY techniques". Reviewing the album for The Line of Best Fit, Janne Oinonen wrote that "with the line-up reduced to the core duo of Bianko and Thomas due to the constraints and physical separation of covid, the hyperactive contents of Butu are more recognisable as electronic or even dance music".