by The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra
Everybody need a little afrobeat in their lives.
Six years in the making, Naming and Blaming will give anticipating POAO fans exactly what they're hoping for.
Infectious grooves, sustained rhythms, brooding social commentary - it’s all there true to the Afrobeat tradition laid down by forefather Fela Kuti in 1970s Nigeria.
Here, the orchestra gets a 21st century overlay courtesy of some rap-style commentaries that take the local to the general.
Album opener 'No Passport' punches you straight to Africa with soaring horn hits dispersed between vocal harmonies - all laid over a rumbling bass line to usher you out of your lethargy.
'Fight So Hard' then lands listeners in downtown Abuja, but the self-conscious themes seem as valid on a Fitzroy corner as they are in Abuja.
The slick rap layover from MC One Sixth muses "We are all kings and queens, we just don’t know it yet."
Namesake track, 'Naming and Blaming' slows the tempo with a wandering saxophone out front, carving the way for the lyrical groove to follow.
"Every day is like an uphill struggle. Not enough hands for the things we have to juggle. Worn down by the grind, ground down by the hustle. Torn for some piece of mind, soul in the muscle."
Then things get distinctly Australian, hitting home the political poignancy.
"No consent, no treaty, no jurisdiction. This land’s laws based on fiction."
'The System' is a social take-down of class inequality, making sure no social ill is left unspoken.
However the grooves keep things upbeat and as you settle in for the extended jams even 10 minutes of track sometimes just isn’t enough.
Available from all good music sources through HopeStreet Recordings.
The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra will play Howler in Brunswick on December 15.
By Richard McLeish
THIS WEEK'S FEATURED TRACKS
Holly Herndon & Jlin (feat. Spawn) - 'Godmother'
Kamaal Williams (feat. Mansur Brown) - 'Snitches Brew'
Little Desert - 'Happy'
Immigrant Union - 'New Win'
Mikado Koko - 'Fobidden Colors (jaçira Remix)'
Time For Dreams - 'Move It (Dream Kit 'Come With Me' Remix)'
Damu The Fudgemunk - 'Victorious'
The Beasts - 'On My Back'
Sascha Funke & Niklas Wandt - 'Die Säge'
This week's Top 10:
