Prophecy

Mulele is a UK-based guitarist working in a variety of styles including jazz, pop, hip-hop and world music. Although he launched his musical career at home in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he relocated to Zimbabwe from where he established himself, working with various translocated Congolese artists including The Real Sounds of Africa and Lubumbashi Stars.

Most of the tracks are reflective and acoustic, lamenting the sad social and political injustice in Africa. He opens with ‘Prophecy’ which is the most upbeat track on offer – an acoustic style. Mulele shares the lead vocals throughout the album with several male and a couple of really excellent female singers – all of whom are new names to me. This gives different tonal flavours to the songs, as does the unexpected instrumentation – kora (harp-lute) on one song, piano on another and cavaquinho and guitars through the rest. Linking the lyrical themes are snippets of radio news reports and speeches that relay news of the exploitation of Congo’s natural resources, betrayal by African dictators and the assassination of African leaders. Lyrics are mostly sung in Lingala with a little French and English, which is not wholly successful on the track ‘Occupy the World’.

This is an enjoyable and thought-provoking debut that hopefully signals the launch of a successful recording career by a versatile new artist.