Nihiloxica - Source of Denial

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 192, November 2023.

Nihiloxica
Source of Denial
Crammed Discs (40 mins)

Nihiloxica were one of the highlights of this year’s WOMAD festival, after their scheduled appearance in 2022 was stymied by visa problems. The life of a band isn’t the simplest when half of you are based in Uganda and the other half are based in the UK. These experiences have fed directly into the overarching theme of the group’s second full-length album: it is a stinging critique of the UK’s draconian visa and immigration process.

The pounding Bugandan polyrhythms of the engalabi, namunjoloba and empuunyi drums meet the abrasive, overdriven synths of industrial trance. Extreme metal influence is heard throughout, from harsh noisescapes to doom-laden detuned bass-synth chugs. Across the whole album, computer-generated voices stand in for the monolithic state machine. It all serves to communicate the evil banality of bureaucracy, not just impersonal but anti-personal, reducing people’s rich lives and complex stories to a phone-tree, where injustices are in-baked as part of a system meticulously rigged to avoid even the merest suggestion of accountability. It sounds oppressive, because it is; it feels dystopian because it is – the reality of anyone without a powerful passport.

It’s heavy stuff, and rightly so. It is political protest, yes, but make no mistake, this is dance music. And you will dance: movement is forced from you by the sheer power of aggressive musical passion. Source of Denial is an impactful album, and its music is absolutely brilliant.

Chief Adjuah - Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 192, November 2023.

Chief Adjuah
Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning
Ropeadope (56 mins)

Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott) has foregone his usual jazz trumpet, relying instead on his amazing voice and invented instruments to explore his heritage as an Afro-New Orleanian, back through the Afro-Indigenous Maroons and to the ultimate roots, in Africa.

This is an album of two shades, and two complementary vibes. Some of the songs are sounded with voice and percussion only, the most reflective of the traditional Afro-New Orleanian music. These songs resonate with Adjuah’s pride in heritage and lineage, filled with remembrance and joyous reverence of the strength of the elders who came before. Other songs are darker and funkier, their sound based around Chief Adjuah’s Bow, an instrument of his own design that resembles a minimalist electric kora or kamalengoni. These tracks are heavier, channelling centuries of righteous anger against still on-going subjugation. The epitome of these is the title track and centrepiece of the album, a 15-minute Gil Scott-Heron-like poetic meditation on Black liberation and white supremacy.

Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning is a powerful album of African music, culture, language and religion, filtered through generations of ancestral memory, obscured and revived over and over into something that could only come from 21st century New Orleans.

Sawa Sawa - Sawa Sawa

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 192, November 2023.

Sawa Sawa
Sawa Sawa
Jinn Records (33 mins)

Sawa Sawa (‘All Together’ in Sudanese Arabic) is a project that unites artists from across Sudan to make a statement for peace and togetherness within the country. This debut release spreads that message as a multi-discipline, multimedia concept album made up of eight artworks, eight short stories and eight pieces of music, all specially commissioned from a diverse range of artists.

The musical side of things takes in almost as many stylistic influences as performers – of whom there are 19. The main sounds are Afro soul, reggae and lightly funky rock, with Sudanese and pan-African scales, rhythms and timbres sprinkled throughout. Unfortunately, it’s all a bit thin. The reggae is bland, the soul feels obvious and the rock guitar solos are often cheesy. Perhaps it’s a symptom of over-fusion. Sudanese music can be so exciting and spicy! It’s a shame that this album doesn’t showcase that to its fullest.

But really, that’s all less important than the project’s noble goal of unity and celebration, made all the more poignant by the recent conflict in Sudan. Millions of civilians have been displaced by the war, including members of the Sawa Sawa family. All credit to those involved in this worthy endeavour – the positive, human impact of art should always be celebrated.