The Sway Machinery is an all-star collective of innovative visionaires leady by guitarist Jeremiah Lockwood of Balkan Beat Box. The Sway machinery also includes Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's on drums, Stuart Bogie and Jordan McLean of the Antibalas horn section on tenor saxophone and trumpet respectively, and touring member of the Arcade Fire Colin Stetson on bass saxophone.

Lockwood layers the haunting notes of his Cantorial-influenced vocals over the energetic, celebratory rhythms of afro-pop, hard-hitting drums and the blues. The EP showcases pieces based on mystical texts taken directly from the Jewish High Holiday prayers and reconfigures them in a startlingly new musical landscape.

The Sway Machinery's sound stems from Lockwood's rich musical relationships with his grandfather Cantor Jacob Konigsberg, and with his mentor Carolina Slim, the renowned blues player who fondly guided Lockwood's musical development. Konigsberg, one of the last great exponents of Cantorial singing, guided Lockwood into an understanding and love of the soulful and ancient heritage of Synagogue music. Lockwood's deeply personal relationship to these two musical traditions helped him to forge a unique musical language of his own, as he learned to move from singing in his grandfather's study to playing with Carolina Slim in New York City subway stations. The Sway Machinery was borne out of this dichotomy.

Though The Sway Machinery carefully cultivates Lockwood's deeply felt relationship to his musical roots, his accomplished colleagues bring to the table the sounds of afro-beat horns, unassailable rock beats and an astutely contemporary musical sensibility.
Lockwood layers the haunting notes of his Cantorial-influenced vocals over the energetic, celebratory rhythms of afro-pop, hard-hitting drums and the blues. The EP showcases pieces based on mystical texts taken directly from the Jewish High Holiday prayers and reconfigures them in a startlingly new musical landscape. Lockwood's ambitious melding of styles results in what The Village Voice has called a most “joyful synthesis.”

The latest indie supergroup has a sound that.... well, you just have to hear to describe. Listen now!" - SPIN.com

"Just when you were sure the word "supergroup" violated FCC regulations, members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Balkan Beat Box, Antibalas and Arcade Fire are teaming up as The Sway Machinery" - CMJ.com

"Lockwood's arrangements of Jewish cantorial songs whip up a frenzy wherein all the world's music can do that which music does best: celebrate. Such joyful synthesis is what music is all about, not to mention what New York is all about" - Village Voice