Antibalas
were the perfect choice of house band for the off- and on-Broadway runs of the
Fela! musical, based on the life of afrobeat progenitor Fela Kuti. The
12-strong New York collective has spent the last 14 years spreading Fela’s
afrobeat gospel across the globe with all-singing, all-dancing shows packing
more energy than most musicals, let alone garden-variety indie bands.
But
although they’ve performed plenty of Kuti covers, their own material has proven
Antibalas to be much more than a tribute band. While there’s no shortage of
bands capturing the sound of afrobeat, few have also captured its fury. Yet
Antibalas’ previous albums, such as 2002’s Talkatif and 2004’s Who Is This
America?, carried a righteous ire within their riotous grooves.
And this is
a trait that, pleasingly, hasn’t been quelled by their brush with Broadway. The
English lyrics of Dirty Money and The Ratcatcher, as well as the equally
impassioned-sounding Yoruba words of Ari Degbe, indicate that the band’s fires
are burning as brightly as ever on this fifth album.
Their Fela!
experience has had some influence, though. Musical director Aaron Johnson might
have talked about the difficulty of translating Kuti’s 20-minute tracks into
five-minute snippets for the stage, but it’s a process that seems to have
resulted in the leanest and most focused Antibalas album yet.
They still
only get through six tracks in 45 minutes, but whilst the horns of Him Belly No
Go Sweet are as blazing and jubilant as ever, they’re driven by a much tighter
rhythm section. On the nimble breakbeats of Sáré Kon Kon, this element bears
more than a passing resemblance to drum ’n’ bass.
Yet
Antibalas’ release feels timely for more reasons that just the resurgence of
interest following Fela!. Beyond their lyrics, and the video to first single
Dirty Money, Antibalas’ music embodies the principles of grassroots
revolutionary movements like Occupy as the disparate voices of guitars, brass
and organ all move in one unified direction; each having their say without
drowning out their companions.
Antibalas
is musical democracy in action, and an inspiring example of a band practicing
what they preach.
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