Wulu Wulu

A decade away from music seems to have given veteran Nigerian bandleader Bongos Ikwue a new lease of life. The 14 tracks here were cherry-picked from over 40 new compositions the man recorded with a whole host of top session musicians from Nigeria, England and the US. However, the clue to this album’s weaknesses lies in those two words – session musicians. It never feels like we are listening to fully functioning band here, just a collection of conservatively arranged tunes over which Ikwue’s smooth, laidback vocals do their thing.

Another issue is the number of different styles employed, making it hard to appreciate the album as a cohesive whole. The title-track has a South African township jazz vibe. ‘Mustapha and Christopha’ tackles Christian and Islamic conflicts in Nigeria, though the acoustic guitar and gentle keyboard orchestration is so polite and agreeable that it brings to mind the 60s easy-listening star Roger Whittaker. Even the rock lead guitar at the beginning of the low-key highlife track ‘Obide’ sounds curiously neutered, as do the interjections of vintage synthesizer. Are the bursts of synth used with post¬modern irony? I suspect not. And things carry on in pretty much the same vein throughout, with a bit of country pop here and a bit of middle-of-the-road balladry there. The overall effect is that one simply zones out because there’s nothing holding your attention. Maybe check out some of his 70s stuff; this is all too innocuous for anyone but your grandmother.