Nubiyan Twist - Freedom Fables (2021 Strut Records 2LP)

Nubiyan Twist - Freedom Fables | 2 x Vinyl LP - 2021 Strut Records (STRUT225LP)

Nubiyan Twist's third album follows the same model as Jungle Run — a large ensemble, multiple vocal guests, Tom Excell producing at their own Henwood Studio in Oxfordshire — but Freedom Fables is built around a tighter conceptual frame. Excell described it as being about the power of narratives: each vocalist brings their own story, and the album's musical palette shifts to meet them. The result is nine tracks that cover jazz, UK soul, Afrobeat, highlife, broken beat and hip-hop without settling into any single register.

Cherise Adams-Burnett, the band's regular collaborator and Jazz FM Vocalist of the Year, sings on three tracks including "Tittle Tattle," the album's lead single, and "Keeper," the most openly jazz-structured piece on the record. Soweto Kinch — the UK saxophonist and rapper whose work sits between jazz and hip-hop — both raps and plays alto on "Buckle Up." Pat Thomas, the Ghanaian vocalist who made his name with highlife guitarist Ebo Taylor, voices "Ma Wonka" in a sound the reviews described as indistinguishable from something recorded in Accra. Ego Ella May sings "24-7," which BBC 6 Music playlisted and which became the album's most widely aired track. K.O.G., Ria Moran and Nick Richards round out the guest appearances. Artwork is by Emma Rodriguez. The album was mixed by Oli Barton Wood and Excell at The Premises.