True to its title, Elsy Wameyo’s debut album is all about the duelling saint and sinner inside of her. But while faith sits at the centre of ‘Saint Sinner’, the rising rapper, singer and producer meditates equally on her twofold cultural identity as a Kenyan-Australian woman.
Wameyo addressed her Kenyan heritage at length on her 2022 EP ‘Nilotic’, named for the indigenous peoples of Africa’s Nile Valley. This time she goes even further – literally and figuratively – by travelling to Kenya to work with producers, songwriters and other collaborators in the rural Naivasha region. Several songs feature prominent backing choirs singing in either English or African languages, while ‘Ler’ features mellifluous guest vocals from Kenyan musician Okello Max.
Those bold flourishes suit Wameyo’s assured juggling of musical modes and motifs across ‘Saint Sinner’. Her stylistic breadth is first broadcast on opener ‘Repercussions’, which applies sensitive piano and fluttering vocals until abruptly switching to harder-edged beats and rapping 45 seconds in. Other stark shifts include extended spoken word on ‘Selah’, R&B overtures on ‘Piny Lara’ and funky guitar licks and hand drums on the Afrobeat-tinged ‘Conquer’. The closing ‘Thank You’ makes explicit the album’s recurring gospel allusions, culminating in a celebration of faith with the refrain “He is by your side” alongside more jazzy instrumentation and a neo-soul edge to her vocals.
Elsewhere, Wameyo’s delivery spans swaggering rapping, vulnerable singing and punchy points in between. While her technique feels more old-school and scenery-chewing on ‘Conquer’, on ‘Quagmire’ she adopts a breathless, impassioned flow over the urgent twang of strings to sound close to an emotional breaking point. Likewise, when calling out her trauma, depression and anxiety by name on ‘Sinner’, her halting, staccato attack conveys the sense of building toward a fever pitch as she exposes her inner demons to the world.
Wameyo certainly doesn’t hide anything here. She taps into her homecoming trip to Kenya for cathartic epiphanies about generational trauma and challenges to her religious faith. Whether unloading over percolating electronics (‘UMVA’), sleepy synths (‘Slowly Slipping’) or live arrangements, she commands our attention at every turn.
When she returns to that initial ballad format backed by a rising choir on the penultimate track ‘Saint’, Wameyo imparts one more fact that is beyond dispute: “This is not the end of my story.”
