Super review by Cal Gibson, of The Secret Soul Society and Scruffy Soul Recordings.

Four fantastic slices of downtempo dubbed-out electronics from Accra make up the inaugural offering from three piece outfit, Nyamekye Junction. Comprised of Burundian producer and vocalist, Betina Quest, Ghanaian singer-songwriter, Eli A Free, and German percussionist / multi-instrumentalist, Ma.ttic, the trio mix and match cultural tropes to come up with a finished product that will be soundtracking back rooms and after hours parties worldwide.

GMT kicks things off in a stately manner – warm and inviting, beats rolling under the twinkling keys and the mellifluous vocal riffs. ’Don’t be late….drive me crazy‘ runs the lyric before switching it up. It’s subtle, machine-precisioned groove-making of the finest order.

Eyes Don’t See works a similar vein of warmth and lush pads, surrounding the wonderful vocal performances with a quietly devastating emotional heft – a love song fashioned from ancestral traces, repurposed and flipped for 2022. It’s a wonderful piece of forward-thinking music: a comfort blanket for the dispossessed, a call to (peaceful) arms – all-encompassing, fantastic, a true gem of a track.

Cloud 21 bounces into view with the drums again cut loose and vibing, the synths set to panoramic and the bass beautifully toned. Voices swell, layered over the rhythm, flooding the ears with magical, melodic yearning, providing a pathway out of the hell that humans have made for themselves.

Aduro rounds up this sparkling four tracker with more low-end theory and crystalline vocals – weaving male and female parts in and out, always and forever, the dance of the sexes rendered sonically, the eternal excuse-me pinned down in the groove. It’s a truly lovely way to finish a stunning E.P. ‘This morning I was down, because the world around me is a catastrophe’ – Nyameke Junction are fighting back, ‘my healing is within me‘ they sing and they’re right, of course. People, heal thyself. This is a superb debut.

Nyameke Junction`s Dasein will be released on June 24, care of Kitto Records. 

You can hear some fine soulful musical selections from Cal Gibson, the first Tuesday of every month, between 4 – 6PM UK time, on his Holy Rollers Radio Show, for Universal Rhythms. If you can’t catch it live, you`ll can find it archived here.