Under One Sun

Brina_is Subrina Ward, a Jamaican singer married to Kieran Murray, a multi-talented Scot who collaborated with her and other musicians on this debut album. And it’s some debut. Brina has a great voice and the music is consistently interesting, combining reggae, African and Latin styles, sometimes in the same song. Recorded in a variety of locations (including Jamaica and Colombia), the album kicks off with a rousing ‘Real Reggae Music’, with a top brass section and a compelling hook. A similar formula is used later on the equally successful ‘Listen’.

Striking a radical note, ‘Feet Don’t Fail Me Now’ is dedicated to the exiled ex-Black Panther Assata Shakur, while the lullaby ‘Lala Vizuri’ evokes the plight of orphans and children born with HIV, ending with a verse in Swahili. ‘African Pride’ and the one-drop ‘Daughter of Zion’ both take an appropriately feminist stance, the latter referring to Allah, Jah and Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Baha’i faith to which Brina belongs. ‘Soul’s Song’ starts as a gentle acoustic piece and morphs into a tribute to Lucky Dube in the man’s own style. There’s also an extended cover of Dube’s ‘Guns and Roses’ featuring Toots Hibbert and Sly Dunbar. ‘We Are Free’ offers a highly effective combination of nyahbinghi drums with piano, while the flute-accompanied title-track progresses eclectically through Latin and Jamaican rhythms to a stirring finale, with Brina repeating ‘one love, one world.’ It’s a fitting end to an album that seems tailor-made to appeal to Songlines readers.