Written by Pat Moran
In “Sooky Sooky,” a hypnotic collaboration by afro grunge pioneer Boko Yout (Paul Adamah), and Stockholm-based producer boerd (Bård Ericson), Adamah assumes the mantle of a griot, a West African storyteller/troubadour – but with a difference. Instead of essaying the role of an outward looking bard, the singer turns inward to spin a dreamscape of memories and desires. (Griot is also the title of the pair’s 4-track EP which contains “Sooky Sooky.”)
Amid Ericson’s languid trip hop beats and ruminative Rhodes piano, Adamah’s smoky melancholic vocals tumble into an impressionist inner landscape distinguished by the near-narcotic magic of his poetry.
“I used to feel a little broken hearted/When I found you in the middle/I used to think about the dream we lost and/now your energy is gone”
A battalion of swarming harmonies increase the track’s narcotic allure, turning melody into incantation. Meanwhile, plangent guitars, shimmering synths and distant echoing voices pull “Sooky Sookey” deeper into its oneiric web.
Coupling meditative chamber pop with haunted hip hop, Ericson and Adamah craft a languid shivery dream from which the sleeper may never awake.
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