True to its title, Elsy Wameyo’s debut album is all concerning the duelling saint and sinner inside her. However whereas religion sits on the centre of ‘Saint Sinner’, the rising rapper, singer and producer meditates equally on her twofold cultural id as a Kenyan-Australian lady.
Wameyo addressed her Kenyan heritage at size on her 2022 EP ‘Nilotic’, named for the indigenous peoples of Africa’s Nile Valley. This time she goes even additional – actually and figuratively – by travelling to Kenya to work with producers, songwriters and different collaborators within the rural Naivasha area. A number of songs characteristic distinguished backing choirs singing in both English or African languages, whereas ‘Ler’ options mellifluous visitor vocals from Kenyan musician Okello Max.
These daring thrives go well with Wameyo’s assured juggling of musical modes and motifs throughout ‘Saint Sinner’. Her stylistic breadth is first broadcast on opener ‘Repercussions’, which applies delicate piano and fluttering vocals till abruptly switching to harder-edged beats and rapping 45 seconds in. Different stark shifts embrace prolonged spoken phrase on ‘Selah’, R&B overtures on ‘Piny Lara’ and funky guitar licks and hand drums on the Afrobeat-tinged ‘Conquer’. The closing ‘Thank You’ makes express the album’s recurring gospel allusions, culminating in a celebration of religion with the chorus “He’s by your aspect” alongside extra jazzy instrumentation and a neo-soul edge to her vocals.
Elsewhere, Wameyo’s supply spans swaggering rapping, susceptible singing and punchy factors in between. Whereas her method feels extra old-school and scenery-chewing on ‘Conquer’, on ‘Quagmire’ she adopts a breathless, impassioned stream over the pressing twang of strings to sound near an emotional breaking level. Likewise, when calling out her trauma, melancholy and anxiousness by title on ‘Sinner’, her halting, staccato assault conveys the sense of constructing towards a fever pitch as she exposes her internal demons to the world.
Wameyo actually doesn’t disguise something right here. She faucets into her homecoming journey to Kenya for cathartic epiphanies about generational trauma and challenges to her spiritual religion. Whether or not unloading over percolating electronics (‘UMVA’), sleepy synths (‘Slowly Slipping’) or stay preparations, she instructions our consideration at each flip.
When she returns to that preliminary ballad format backed by a rising choir on the penultimate observe ‘Saint’, Wameyo imparts yet another truth that’s past dispute: “This isn’t the tip of my story.”
Particulars
- Launch date: July 26, 2024
- Document label: AWAL/Impressed
