Shabaka – Of The Earth
Shabaka trades meditative stillness for propulsive movement and cosmic chaos in his sophomore album
Two years after his solo debut album, Shabaka's second solo record shows a clear shift in his musical evolution. Where Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace highlighted inward reflection and a meditative stillness, Of The Earth represents a powerful driving force, movement, and active chaos on a cosmic level. There is a certain messiness that he has managed to pull together throughout the record, giving an overall impression of authenticity, as well as multiple formidable creative sources colliding.
Opening with A Future Untold, this cerebral track sets an impressively expansive background for the whole album, with shimmering electronics and serene woodwinds topped with a deeply warm saxophone melody. The fourth and fifth tracks, Call The Power and Dance In Praise, prove to both be incredibly high-octane, as one might guess from the titles. With rhythmical clapping, frantic beats, and hectic call-and-responses from the flutes, these tracks are bursting with energy and propulsion.
The album also sees Shabaka exploring rap for the first time. The André 3000-inspired vocal performances heard in tracks Go Astray and Eyes Lowered are subdued and understated, but again with a quiet impetus that Shabaka continuously seems to embrace so well.
Listen to: A Future Untold, Call the Power, Dance In Praise