London Lucumi Choir

Music

So I feel bad laying into Babe Shadow (who, to be fair, arent that bad) without offering some sort of alternative. And so this brings me to the London Lucumi Choir. Consisting of 20 or so members singing songs in praise of the traditional Nigerian Yoruba Gods via the Cuban Lucumi religion (Lucumi is a curious syncretic mixture of Catholic Saints and ancient deities), the choir are led by Daniella Rosselson, a London based Olorisha, or inducted female priest. The songs are joyful chanted spirituals complemented by the intricate clattering percussion of the bata drum. They deftly switch tempo, rise and fall in cadence, and swirl in excitable cycles skywards to the heavens. Without wishing to conjure up images of haggard tories grinding out Onward Christian Soldiers on Songs of Praise*, this is genuinely religious music. And so, the choir serve as a much needed antidote to the cynical half arsed appropriation of world rhythms and melodies that is proving so popular with trend cannibalising second tier indie jokers, and will, if you allow them, greatly enrich your day.

*Nothing against Songs of Praise you understand. Im as partial as the next man to a cheeky verse of Jerusalem.

Ian Mcquaid

Charity Shoppe Blog