Fofoulah

The blurb that comes with this album describes it as ‘… a new voice in the endless Atlantic musical dialogue’ and for once I can readily agree that it says new things musically – or rather it combines many other elements into a new dialogue. It also makes for great listening.

At the heart of this is the wonderful Sabar drums, Wolof drumming from Senegal and Gambia but there are strains of Afro-beat, Afro-rock and even rap embedded in the sounds along with western jazz and electronica. The dub bassline on ‘Soumala’ is a dark and dense as anything that ever came out from Jamaica but the vocals throughout are intertwined with the drums and the whole thing is subtle and powerful so that you find yourself lost in the music effortlessly.

The band combines members of Red Snapper (Tom Challenger – sax & keyboards), Iness Mezel (Phl Stevenson – guitar), Outhouse Ruhabi (Johnny Brierly – bass), Juju & Robert Plants Sensational Space Shifetrs (Dave Smith – drums) and Irok (Kaw Secka – Sabar drums) but they also have guest appearances from Juldeh Camara, Ghostpoet, Iness Mezel and Batch Gueye – the influences come from far and wide and the music benefits from some remarkable playing.

It isn’t uncommon for reviewers to be stuck trying to describe the sounds in front of them when it comes to music this complex and free. There are no ready pigeonholes to put the music into and if you concentrate on one element you will lose the depth and totality of the music – the music has to be dealt with as though it were a jam: the extended elements working with each other to create a harmonious whole that is far more than the sum of individual components.

I will say that this is one of the most invigorating albums I’ve heard this year and that every time I go back and focus on any element I lose connection with the music so I basically leave it as it should be heard – as one entity and a great one at that.