Mercy

The London African Gospel Choir are fresh from an extremely well-received tour that showcased their rendition of Paul Simon's Graceland across the UK and US. Using this tour as a springboard, the group will now tour their own material. Mercy draws more comparison with the Soweto Gospel Choir than with isicathamiya veterans Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the original singers on Graceland. The five tracks here are undeniably uplifting – with faultlessly juicy choral arrangements from Grace Morgan sung in English and Swahili, entrancing vocal solos and gorgeous harmonies. For those already familiar with the production styles common in gospel music, ‘Lithemba’ may not come as a surprise; a few too many differently synthesized instrumental sounds are used, fragmenting the arrangement. The overproduction and muddy mixing here do distract from the sound of the choir, which would be better left a force unto itself with the usual live band backing of their shows. This can thankfully be heard to great effect later in the album in ‘Hakuna Mungu’ and the stripped-back tearjerker ‘Mercy’. That said, the toning-down of production of African music for the Western market is all too common. So, surely, it's our responsibility to just let go and get down with this joyous music. A strong debut.