★★★☆☆
Preface
Upbeat cool West African rock. starts smoothly, moves ahead strongly, and farewells the listener with a sense of nostalgia, as if it’s saying “We’re going to meet again”. 7 tracks, 40 minutes long. It sounds a lot like reggae, Caribbean music, and highlife.
Review
I particularly liked Spirits Up Above, the first half of Survival, Rabiatu: tracks 3, 4 and 6. Spirits Up Above has a bluesy guitar that’s very familiar, the sing-along in the first half is so interesting and sounds a lot like gospel (or Ray Charles for that matter). It starts with a familiar introduction, in the middle presents its main interesting sound and during the last two tracks a less present more background music sort of outro, like a gentle goodbye.
I like the instrumentation, it’s a blend of African instruments and mainstream Western instruments; Just enough of both sides so I can notice that it’s following the world and still values its roots. The lyrics are minimal, almost absent but on point.
It felt good, nothing too deep or fancy, very authentic, memorable, and new.