If any artist deserves to swerve around a borderless Earth with a real World Passport, it’s the London-born, Sudanese artist Ahmed Gallab. Listen to his catalog under the Sinkane moniker and you’ll hear fragments of sub-Saharan pop, shoegaze, afro-rock, electronica, krautrock, and everything in between—all melded into his own funky blend. Jumping into Sinkane’s discography is like a weekend immersed in your local record store’s world music rack.
On Life & Livin’ It, Sinkane’s sound is, more than ever, that of a democratic band. Supporting its predecessor, Mean Love, Gallab and his musicians toured 166 shows in 20 countries, and this new album retains the immediacy of a live set. The highlife bluster and catchy hooks of Life & Livin’ It are sweet as taffy, like a bright sunburst of positivity that could melt ice.
With production spotless from front-to-back, no instrument trips another’s heels. The orchestration remains refreshingly breezy, from the simple-but-infectious keyboard riffs of “Favorite Song,” to the gentle sax lines on “U’Huh,” to the afrobeat bluster of members of Brooklyn band Antibalas’ rich horn sections on “Telephone.” (If anything, the mix could be a little too clean.) Gallab—eternally infused with the spirits of his Sudanese pop forefathers—shines on top of the rhythms with zero struggles. A bit of an outlier, opener “Deadweight” features the kind of digital blips that have underpinned some of Gallab’s previous work: The chipped guitar chords, twinkling keys, and rapped bongos rev up slowly, culminating with wailing guitars.
The singer’s gentle vocal tones perfectly suit the lyrics, which are sunny, upbeat, and sometimes a little goofy. There’s an endearing simplicity to “Favorite Song,” inspired by Gallab’s one-time side job as a DJ: “Won’t you play my favorite song?” he repeats over and over. Elsewhere, “U’Huh” sees Gallab asserting, “Everything is fine/We’re all gonna be alright” and “Kulu shi tamaam,” an Arabic phrase meaning “everything is great.” It’s either an admirable shot of optimism or skittish fingers-crossing given these times we find ourselves in.
On closer “The Way,” the guitars get nasty. The horns come down hard, and chants of “I know, I know, I know” summon the spirit of Bill Withers. It’s psychedelic-era Temptations cut with Blaxploitation grooves. *Life & Livin’ It *signs off with a stiff jab to the nose, hinting at what could be if Sinkane’s next journey takes them deeper into the mud.
