Life & Livin’ It is a record that sucks you in from the first second. A tensely floating synth is joined by a pulsing and rugged guitar over rolling percussion. Vocals come in, initially restrained, and allow the song to grow underneath. It gains momentum until Ahmed Gallab lets his voice go, just as the harmonies hit. The crest of the wave breaks, and in that glorious moment, you know you’re going to listen to the rest of the album.

This is the sixth album from Sinkane, and its fusion of Sudanese roots with American styles radiates warmth. Most songs repeat a feelgood and hopeful message: “We’re all gonna be alright”, goes the refrain in ‘U’Huh’, while ‘Theme from Life & Livin’ It’ encourages us to be ourselves, stay young – live life. If they weren’t done so well they could be utterly transient, but the songs come with such authenticity that they’re infectious. Many are layered with the buoyant and crooked brass lines of Ghanaian highlife, while ‘Fire’, like ‘Deadweight’, evokes the dusty guitar sounds of the central Sahara. The powerfully nostalgic ‘Favourite Song’ even nods to the Nigerian electro-funk of the late 70s.

To say that he draws on diverse cultural influences then, is an understatement. Although he moved to the US aged five, he’s obviously kept his Sudanese heritage close, and currently leads a supergroup which plays the music of William Onyeabor around the world, and is composed of members of the Talking Heads, Gorillaz, and the Beastie Boys – which explains the electro-funk.

What’s remarkable about the album though is how it not only brings together this extremely broad range of African musical traditions, but resolves them with a style more familiar in Europe and the US. Genres from the States creep into some songs, like the tinges of surf and psychedelia on ‘The Way’. More generally, the album has a highly polished shine to it that is unmistakably western: there are no rough edges, everything is immaculately arranged and extremely tidy, from the instrumentation to the production.

The neatness of Gallab’s songwriting can, at times, be reminiscent of bands like Coldplay or Radiohead, and the irreverence and optimism on this album has wide-reaching appeal. He himself has an exceptionally refined voice. All the music is also wrapped in a kind of well-produced, radio-ready package. At the same time, the influences are as diverse as can be, and the music never talks down to the listener – rather the album offers songs that can be challenging, but are effortlessly relatable. It’s perhaps not that Sinkane lie halfway between the two styles, but that they can do both at the same time – one moment they’re evoking little-known afrobeat musicians, the next they’re playing a melody that could easily be on Radio 1. In this way, ‘Life & Livin’ It’ carefully treads the line between pop and its very opposite.
Ben Noble

Website: sinkane.com

Facebook: facebook.com/SinkaneRa