One People One World

Around the same time as Seun Kuti's excellent new album Black Times, elder brother Femi has also returned to the fray with his first album in five years – and introduces a third generation of the Kuti clan with his son Omorinmade (known as Made), who plays piano and bass on many of the 12 tracks. Musically, it's a case of Afrobeat-plus, with soukous guitars, reggae bass lines, and cosmopolitan hints of samba and a flavour of New Orleans added to the well-grooved Nigerian drum patterns and Femi's punching horn lines. Lyrically, he is on a mission to transcend the seething anger of Fela's songs in order ‘to give the younger generation a message of hope.’ The problem is that lines that might pass muster in the immediacy of The Shrine club in Lagos can take on a clumsy quality when dissected from the reviewer's armchair. Proclaiming that ‘first-class institutions and infrastructures’ will make Africa great again lacks bite as an inspirational campaign slogan. ‘Best to Live on the Good Side’ is a banging track with a thrilling horn riff, but again suffers from a prosaic worthiness, and the title-track might have a vital message but surely doesn’t have to be quite so platitudinous. Forgive the lyrics and feel the groove, however, and you will be fine.