Shout Out! To Freedom...

Album review

“This record is probably the deepest record I've written.” For a while, George Evelyn, fearing cancer, thought that his ninth album for Warp would be his last. During the two weeks spent waiting for test results, he asked himself a lot of questions, eventually arriving at a feeling of liberation, and delivering one of his greatest albums, which marks something of a return to the "downtempo" formula of his début. As on the previous Shape the Future (2018), the English producer surrounded himself with guests, some of whom are present on several tracks. Leading the way is Ethiopian-born New York soul singer Haile Supreme on five tracks, who sounds particularly at home on the funky Own Me, and especially on the last song on the album Up to Us, where he adopts some echoes of Marvin Gaye. He does a good turn alongside the sought-after saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings on Wonder, an ultra-suave soul/R&B/pop/jazz trip that hits all the right notes. The frontman of Sons Of Kemet returns for the centrepiece of the record, 3D Warriors, seven wonderful minutes of shamanic groove, featuring the unmissable German jazz drummer Wolfgang Haffner. Also of note is an ingenious piece of hybrid reggae with London's Greentea Peng (Wikid Satellites) and an appearance by the young Washington artists OSHUN on Breathe In: this female rap duo is one to watch closely. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz