Phoenician Drive
Oriental Kraut Rock
Brussels, BE
PHOENICIAN DRIVE is a sextet formed in Brussels in 2015, blending rock and traditional music where the oud, darbouka and rek meet distortion and pop sounds. The band operates in the footsteps of earlier East-West musical fusions from the 1970s, such as Erkin Koray and Orient Express, and influenced by the German krautrock scene (Neu!, Can, Faust, etc.).
In 2017, their debut EP ‘Two Coins’ was released on EXAG’ Records (EU) and Stolen Body Records (UK), attracting significant attention on the rock and world music scenes.
Then, in 2018, Phoenician Drive released their self-titled debut album on EXAG’ & SK Records and also had the opportunity to collaborate with the renowned Belgian contemporary dance choreographer Wim Vandekeybus by writing the music for his show ‘Trap Town’.
In spring 2019, the band decided to take a step back and work on an acoustic live set to return to the very roots of their approach and revisit their songs. The band toured exclusively with this acoustic format in 2021 and 2022.
In June 2023, the band released a new electric EP. This new EP, driven by vocals and featuring brighter, more danceable tones, is nonetheless a direct response to the difficult context of the so-called ‘Covid’ years of lockdown and isolation for some. Hence the title ‘Glow’: a call for emancipation, generosity and all forms of freedom. This EP will see the collective hit the road again on tour in 2024 and 2025 (Germany, France and Spain). Indeed, the live stage remains the ideal setting where tracks—particularly longer pieces—can truly come to life and unfold to their full potential. In autumn 2025, the band released a live vinyl album on EXAG' , recorded at the Brasserie Illegaal.
During the same period, the collective worked regularly on new compositions with a view to recording a second electric LP in 2027.
This second LP, is the result of several composition residencies over the past two years; it follows on from the latest EP ‘Glow’ but also marks a return to longer compositions geared towards a trance-like experience. Release expected late 2026-early 2027.
Publishing : exagunlimited@gmail.com
XAG058
Release date : 23/06/2025
Preorders will be shipped on July 30th
Sunbusrt Vinyl includes a ticket giving access to the full live performance video.
Captured at Brasserie Illegaal, Brussels, on June 23th, 2023.
Tracklist :
01 Holy Security
02 Glow
03 Aguas Del Ovido II
04 Urban Sailors
05 Fat Bill
06 Two Coins For The Boatman
Recorded by Mathieu Charray
Mixed by Mathieu Peyraud, Mathieu Versini
Mastered by Francis Ledoux
Artwork by Laurent Poisson
The Brussels sextet Phoenician Drive, a mix of rock and traditional oriental music, returns with a resolutely more pop record, with new, brighter musical colors. With this new record, the Brussels collective looks back on their electric beginnings by giving more space to singing, recounting their doubts and personal stories, like an invitation to go through the painful trials of life in the joy of knowing that everything is constant transformation. After a first EP released in 2017, an eponymous album in 2018 and a collaboration with choreographer Wim Van De Keybus, Phoenician Drive adapts its repertoire to the acoustic format during the COVID years. It is in 2022 that Phoenician Drive composes and records a new disc entitled 'GLOW', to be released on EXAG' Records on June 23, 2023.
12” TRANSPARENT BLUE VINYL*
Tracklist :
1. Pull The Tiger
2. Glow
3. Urban Sailors
4. Holy Security
5. Pull The Tiger (Part II.)
Official Release on June 23th
Merch
XAG008
10” EP Trans Red (1st press)
10” EP Marbled (2d press)
Tracklist :
A1: Two Coins For The Boatman
B1 : Fat Bill
XAG015
Release : October 12, 2018
LP Black
CD
Tracklist:
1. Almadraba
2. Paradise In My Veins
3. Kraken Doesn’t Crack A Crocodile
4. Musselove
5. Aguas Del Olvido
6. Onouba Twist
7. Bicky Beach
8. Slowfish