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

You may well disagree, but getting older seems to lead to – for this reviewer anyway – a distinct lack of joy in everyday life. Where are those transcendental moments, those sharply-polished brief glimpses of nirvana, the little seconds of wonderment that can sustain you for years and years and years? 

Do you have to dig deep into the past to mine them, or are they in fact still achievable, still there, just tantalisingly out of reach most of the time, as we navigate the mundane and the tedious business of daily existence: the squabbles and the petty slights we inflict on each other, the murderous bullshit unleashed by the psychopaths in charge, the sheer inescapable pointlessness of it all.*

And yet, and yet….walking today past my daughter’s school at lunchtime I was struck by the sound coming from the playing field as hundreds of kids relished the manic hype of breaktime and wanted to share that freedom with the world – this was surely the sound of joy, loud and proud and amplified through the midday sun. 

This is the key, I thought, this mad grasping of the moment, the insanity of existence transformed into the simple pleasure of being alive. The children know it, of course, and then life weedles it out of us as we settle discontentedly into money-making and faking it. Keep it simple, stupid: if the sun is shining and you have a roof and your health and some food – the rest is just artifice and not worth a dime.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that Alogte Oho’s O Yinne! is another source of joyful expression, another way of tapping into whatever those kids were mainlining. It’s crammed full of beauty and truth and wonderment: a soul-reviving brew guaranteed to banish any blues that you might have picked up along the way.

Eight tracks, eight deep-fried slices of Ghanaian gospel, eight righteous party-starters. This Is Bolga! absolutely merits the exclamation mark as horns duel with guitars and the beats metamorphosise into a living breathing thing: a couple of minutes in the vocals drop and the sauce has been well and truly splashed all over the plate. Music to move to, music to luxuriate in: a monstrous groove of truly psychedelic proportions – right time, right place and this cut will explode: trust me.

The energy levels barely drop throughout the album. A Lemine Me starts off relaxed, floaty – then the horns and chants stop by, and once again you’re moving and grooving, borne along by a bucketful of soul. It’s beautifully done, perfectly constructed, the skills of the singers and players truly something to behold. Art as release, music as salvation – wonderful stuff.

Yinne Te Yelle Be drops dubwise elements into the mix: Max Romeo and the black starliner repurposed and ready to rumble. A flute solo brings everything together: a melting pot of pan-Africanism, all bases covered. 

Doose Mam struts and strides: rolling beats and Oho’s impassioned vocal performance bolstered by the blazing sounds of joy on backing vocals – Lizzy Amaliyenga, Patricia Adongo and Florence Adooni tearing it down – brass layered lushly over the top. Creation rebels for sure.

Joy, then. Turns out it’s still with us, still here, still waiting to be accessed by our wilted souls – you just have to know where to look, or in this case, where to listen. O sing choirs of angels, joyful and triumphant – O Yinne! is an absolute blast.

Alogte Oho’s O Yinne! is out now on Philophon.

*You’re bombarded with distractions / information to keep you confused, and unhappy, and to prevent you from glimpsing those moments of Nirvana. I truly believe that they an be found everywhere. Often in the simplest things. Any activity, physical or mental, that forces you to concentrate – effectively mediate (even writing a record review : ) – can free you for a few minutes from the bullshit (Rob).