saint ezekiel: everything is under alarm
Francisco Espregueira
Saint Ezekiel is a guitarist and songwriter hailing from Philadelphia that just a released a very tasty, afro-beat infused and soulful mini-album entitled Everything Is Under Alarm. After being spotted by the legendary multi-instrumentalist and The Roots’ member James Poyser during an open-mic session, Ezekiel was quickly placed in the “right rooms” to record this amazing project - blending melodies of the western world with the sounds of Africa.
Born to Nigerian immigrants, and deeply influenced by them, Ezekiel explores his love for highlife music, traditional Afrobeat and a modern story-telling that can be related to the one’s Burna Boy or Sángo have been showcasing over the past years. In Everything Is Under Alarm we can hear Fela Kuti, Tony Allen, Sunny Ade, messages that convey contemporary topics for African-Americans, and a conversation in his soul between all of those elements. It’s a mini-album that has a mental, social and spiritual strength quality - one that is unique and expressed with absolutely magic musicianship. Available through Bandcamp. Don’t sleep on this one.