Just My Soul

This is the fourth album by Erik Aliana, the first two having been in the Bikutsi and Makossa styles of modern Cameroonian music. His third was called Just My Land and this new recording, Just My Soul, continues his explorations of the capabilities of his magnificent voice. It's a duet album, with all voices and instruments played by Aliana and his accomplice Francis ‘Picket’ Dschoutezo. The vocals are loosely based on the distinctive yodel sound of the Pygmy singing style of the Cameroonian rainforest. Aliana sings the lead and Picket weaves his voice in and out of the melodies. They accompany themselves: Aliana plays acoustic guitar and percussion, while Picket plays electric bass, sanza (a thumb piano with bamboo keys) and bamboo Pygmy flute.

The instrumentation is simple but perfectly complements the expressive vocals. Aliana has an astounding voice that conjures up a myriad of different vocal effects – beautiful and attention-grabbing: in many ways Aliana is like a less gimmicky Bobby McFerrin.