With two Mercury Prize-nominated albums under his belt (which is the British underground music equivalent of a Grammy for album of the year, if the Grammys had an ounce of credibility and anyone cared about them in the slightest), Obaro Ejimiwe aka Ghostpoet returns with his first full-length since 2015’s Shedding Skin, turning his focus outward and boldly tackling current macrosocietal issues. While his first few albums relied more heavily on beats and electronics, Dark Days + Canapés ratchets up the guitars and organic sounds, calling to mind the lo-fi soul of early TV On The Radio and bluesy experimentalism of Gorillaz’ finer moments. Musically, Dark Days + Canapés exists squarely at the apex of the British-Jamaican spoken word tradition, following in the footsteps of Linton Kwesi Johnson, Massive Attack, Tricky, Roots Manuva and Kode9 & The Spaceape; and the cold urban dread of post-punk acts like Joy Division, Section 25 and This Heat. Fitting, then, that Ejimiwe was featured on Massive Attack’s chilling 2016 single “Come Near Me.” Grant “Daddy G” Marshall returns the favor here by guesting on “Woe Is Meee,” one of the album’s best tracks. Also be sure to check out: “(We’re) Dominoes,” “Freakshow,” “Karoshi.” Limited edition 180 gram white vinyl with printed inner sleeve.

• white colored vinyl
• 180g vinyl pressing
• printed inner sleeve
• limited edition
• music label: Play It Again Sam 2017

reviewed by mayor of hounslow 08/2017