Songs Of Praise, the fifth LP from Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah and Adrian Sherwood’s African Head Charge outfit, originally emerged in 1990 through Sherwood’s own On-U Sound imprint. Over the years the album has come to be regarded by many fans of African Head Charge as perhaps the finest of all their records. It is certainly one of the finest realisations of their group aesthetic, and as such it is no wonder that Songs Of Praise should be included in On-U’s new African Head Charge reissues project.
On this record Sherwood and Noah manage to maintain the adventurous dubwise spirit of the previous African Head Charge LPs while also nodding to some contemporaneous developments in electronic music and dub techniques. Combining dub scientifics with influences from downtempo, industrial and the fourth world, Noah and Sherwood create the sort of heady brew that only they are capable of cooking up. There is more than a pinch of The Future Sound Of London to this record, and several tracks here foreshadow the development of illbient music later in the 90s.
As well as the album’s original tracklist this reissue also includes several additional tracks. Far from simply making up numbers, these bonus beats only add to the potent concoction that is Songs Of Praise. Also included in the vinyl editions is double-sided poster, an interview with Noah, and rare photos of the group.
Songs Of Praise, the 1990 experimental dub masterpiece from Adrian Sherwood and Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah, gets a deluxe reissue in the year of its 30th birthday.
