TwoManTing
Album: Say What?
Label: 2BootMusic
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.twomanting.co.uk

Say What? Is the second CD from Twomanting and is the follow up to their excellent 2011 debut Legacy. If you are not familiar with Twomanting, they are Bristolian Jon Lewis & Sierra Leonian Jah-Man Aggrey. Jon & Jah-Man have been performing together since 2004, when they were part of World/Dance band Le Cod Afrique

This album consists of 12 mostly original songs. Fatou, the opening track, is the band's tribute to Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, which sets the tone for the album, song writing that captures street language, mood and some difficult themes all teamed with bouncing West African guitar rhythms and driving djembe beats interspersed with some Reggae influences for good measure.

Standout tracks for your reviewer are Ask Me, a song inspired by questions regularly asked of Jah-Man about the troubles affecting his homeland but asks the listener to look beyond the all too often negative news images & newspaper reports.

Righteous Man draws on the shared slaving history of Bristol & Sierra Leone but again challenges perceptions by asking just who was righteous & who was guilty?

Finally an honourable mention must go to the only song on the album not written by themselves. An excellent cover of one of my favourite Clash songs, Guns Of Brixton.

This is an album that works on many levels from dynamic, uplifting West African rhythms to thought provoking lyrics that gets the thumbs up from all four members of my family, great not only for background music but also to really listen to the journey of the songs. Based on this release I shall be making every effort to catch Twomanting live in the future.

The last word, though, has to go to my daughter who said, when I asked what she thought of Say What? "They could make a sad song sound happy."

David Chamberlain