Daega Rek

This project from Afro-dub outfit Fofoulah signals an interesting turn for the ensemble. Their self-titled debut was dub-heavy and dreamy, but while the follow-up partially retains these elements, the production has been taken to new heights as sabar drummer Kaw Secka has taken the lead. Their vocalist Batch Gueye is still present but it is Secka's voice and his fiery playing that is to the fore. It is a deeply exciting listen. ‘Ndanane’ is hypnotic. Cacophonous synth lines, an urgent call to the family's first child to bear familial responsibility, with drummer Dave Smith relentlessly playing against the sabar pattern. The power of ‘Seye’ is redolent of a Chicago footwork production, with Secka's incantations bursting over the top.

There are moments where the experimentation can wander, but it's ultimately impassioned with even ‘Chebou Jaine’ – a song about the Gambia's national dish – sonically rendering a call to arms, such is its ferocity. There is ‘Kaddy’, a dedication to the talented British-Gambian photographer Khadija Saye – who was killed in the Grenfell Tower fire disaster – before the record bows out on ‘Pulo’: vocal spectres, and jungle breaks fading to a single drum line.