The cover of Femi Kuti’s excellent new album Journey Through Life is a collage assembled from photos of Femi, his family, and his steadfast band, The Positive Force. A reflective record, and his first self-produced (a success), it’s personal and political, fiery and fatherly, having been written and recorded while Femi’s daughter faced health problems.
Fittingly recorded at the family’s own Legacy Plus Studios, Journey Through Life stays true to the afrobeat blueprint of Femi’s father, but whereas Fela’s tunes could stretch across an entire side of vinyl, Femi has always packaged his music with more brevity but without sacrificing the urgency.
So it is with the titular opener “Journey Through Life,” on which the groove is quickly established. Femi takes a saxophone solo and then gets to the point—in this case, the brevity of life itself, counselling us to prioritise family and enjoy what we do, reminding us: “remember this is just a period of time.”
The tempo shifts for “Chop And Run” which features a brass arrangement as anthemic as anything in the family canon, as Femi relates the notorious military raid on his father’s compound, Kalakuta Republic, in which the Kuti matriarch Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti—a trailblazing political activist and educator—was fatally injured.
Nigerian politics is also the subject of “After 24 Years,” on which Femi speaks truth to power over a classic afrobeat organ ostinato.
Indeed, political office as self-enrichment is a theme that both Femi and his younger brother, Seun Kuti, feel duty-bound to keep confronting (as their father did before them), and it’s addressed directly in “Corruption Na Stealing,” which features a haunting vocal from Femi, who—as a saxophonist, trumpeter, and keyboardist—has always been a triple threat, and then some.
Femi has fine company on the record, and his band The Positive Force, of which he is rightfully proud are on top form, backing him with elastic drums, choppy organ, and blazing brass.
A Guinness World Record holder for the longest note ever held on a saxophone (51 minutes and 35 seconds, since you ask) the brilliant Journey Through Life is proof that Femi’s stamina and commitment remain as strong as ever.
Journey Through Life was released on 25 April via Partisan Records.
Stream, listen to, and get your copy of the album HERE