Album review: Sons of Kemet brilliant as they blur boundaries on Black To The Future
Sons of Kemet impress on latest album, Black To The Future.
Over the past decade, multi-instrumentalist Shabaka Hutchings has become a central figure on London’s wildly fertile jazz scene. His principle outfit, Sons of Kemet, are signed to the storied Impulse label and return here for their first outing since the Mercury Prize nominated 2018 release, Your Queen is a Reptile.
Their unorthodox line up - sax, tuba and two drummers - suggests a commitment to innovation which their fourth album confirms with a strongly realised journey beyond jazz into dub, house and hip-hop territory.
The fierce opening salvo of ‘Field Negus’ signals both political and musical intent, with guest Joshua Idehen delivering a searing state of the black union address over a dense, increasingly discordant stew. It’s immediately followed by the exciting uptempo groove of ‘Pick Up Your Burning Cross’, vocalist Moor Mother adding an urgent chant over syncopated flute and horn blasts.
Kojey Radical, Lianne La Havas and D Double E offer fine vocal support over the following couple of numbers but it’s the core quartet that blaze throughout, with especially tight interplay on the later instrumentals. Theon Cross’s awesome deep tuba provides low end weight, the dual drummers riff off one another seamlessly and Hutchings just soars in the space above.
Further in, ‘Let The Circle Be Unbroken’ builds serpentine melodies over a lithe rhythm then collapses into a cacophonous finale as if it’s the only way to exit such a perfect groove.
Joshua Idehen returns for the closing track, ‘Black’. Beginning wearily with “Black is tired, Black would like to make a statement”, his frustration rises with the pitch of the music towards an anguished closing plea of “leave us alone.”
It’s a brilliantly conceived record - the track titles also read in sequence as a kind of manifesto by the way - and another compelling argument for the primacy of the album format. Once conditions allow, it will be a thrill to see the band perform it live.
