Crimi was born in 2018 out of frontman Julien Lesuisse’s desire to rediscover his Sicilian heritage and reclaim a culture and language that his immigrant family once felt forced to conceal. Lesuisse has been active in the french music scene as a vocalist and sax player for over two decades, performing with dance party outfit Mazalda, and with Algerian raï new wavers Cheb Lakhdar and Sofiane Saidi. It’s these unlikely sources, together with the ethio- jazz, funk, and soul backgrounds of guitarist Cyril Moulas, bassist Brice Berrerd, and drummer Bruno Duval, that come together in Crimi’s perfectly diasporic sound. Drawing on their musical backgrounds and lived experiences, the band craft a visionary continuum that draws on traditions from different times and places, re-elaborating them for the blended, cross-cultural world of the present. Through their syncretic groove, Crimi reimagines the Mediterranean as a place of meeting and exchange, as opposed to the theatre of conflict and division it has become.