Black Times

With Femi Kuti's musical output slowing in recent times, his younger brother Seun's passion continues to burn bright as he enters the peak of his career. Seun Kuti's fourth album is a call to action and opens strongly with ‘Last Revolutionary’, an ode to Shaka Zulu, Fela Kuti and Marcus Garvey, which places Seun at the centre of an ongoing battle: ‘I be the memory of a fallen warrior, the walking talking struggle of my people.’

This revolutionary might is carried over onto the album's centrepiece ‘Black Times’: a track that starts with great promise, demonstrating Seun's acute ability to craft memorable and catchy melodies that instantly stick in the mind. However, Carlos Santana's contribution – although instantly recognisable – is oddly jarring. His endless pentatonic noodling is tiresome and his lack of rhythmic nuance is at real odds with the hyper-syncopated backing and Seun's urgent vocal exclamations.

Outside of this, though, it's another solid and fiery effort from Seun. His passion pours through on the track ‘Corporate Public Control Department,’ which is a polemic against Nigeria's current president Muhammadu Buhari, while the languid groove on ‘African Dreams’ allows Seun to offer up more reflective sentiments: ‘tell me now, we go manifest the vision of so many lost generations.’

Black Times is a project that resolutely calls for a better future, honouring bygone trailblazers in the continued struggle for freedom.