The Lighthouse

Album review

As the SomeOthaShip family continues to evolve into a Parliament/Funkadelic-styled universe, marking the label/collective's major releases becomes trickier. Lighthouse is a G&D (husband-wife duo Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley “Declaime” Perkins) album, so it should officially be related to their 2010 effort SomeOthaShip, but the mood here feels like a 180-degree reaction to Seeds, Muldrow's 2012 solo effort which was personal and pointed inward. This one is aptly titled as it beams outward, inviting listeners to take a soul-filling, broken-beat journey with "Welcome to the lighthouse, we will help you find your home" during the title track. That key cut is also the album's mega-highlight thanks to a guest shot from LMNO and lines like "Brought to take it to a higher level, to the apex/Past the clowns, far beyond the moon/We got next/Attracting crowns till there's no more room" which Dudley offers with open arms and not the usual standoffish swagger. "Pop culture icons are weapons of mass distraction that function to dampen signals that mobilize social action" rolls off the literate rapper's tongue like he was a Last Poet on the mobilizing monster called "Fambam," a track that suggests anyone can join the fam thanks to Muldrow's Prince-meets-Jimmy Smith-or-Jimmy McGriff backing track. It's a funky hug coming right through the headphones, but when the SomeOthaShip crew want to "Dance" they enlist turntabilist DJ Romes for the good-timing old-school scratching heard throughout the album. Even the blue beat of "Emo Funk" is contrasted with Georgia's sweet belief that "Lately choosing wiser leaves me higher," and as these 17 cuts of strange yet attractive vibes and inconvenient yet undeniable truths play out, this blow against the empire is as cool as it is convincing. SomeOthaShip regulars should consider the pick for sunny days while the curious can look at it as an easy entry point into a discography that's incredibly rich and rewarding.
© David Jeffries /TiVo