‘Wu Hen’ is the brilliant second album from Peckham’s highly talented Kamaal Williams and for this set he’s assembled a stellar team of players to give shape to his musical visions. The spiritual opener ‘Street Dreams’ features Miguel-Atwood Ferguson’s lush, cinematic strings, the heavily syncopated funker ‘One More Time’ is driven by Greg Paul’s (of Kalayst Collective) drums, the beautiful, mellow ‘Toulouse’ ebbs gently while the pacier ‘Pigalle’ rides on a hard bop groove. ‘Big Rick’ blends feels of 70s Brit Crime drama TV themes with a heavy, laid back vibe while the thumping dancer ‘Save Me’ has a bolshy, tough swagger that’s impossible to resist moving to. Taking the pace up further, the title track ‘Mr Wu’ rides on synth washes, a bubbling bass and a 4/4 beat that send it straight to the feet. Lauren Faith guests on the dreamlike whisper of ‘Hold On’. ‘Early Prayer’ closes out the album in mellow, spiritual style with a duo of warm keys and Quinn Mason’s lyrical sax blending in perfect harmony.
LP here
CD here
LP (coloured vinyl) here
See all by Kamaal Williams here
Listen
Street Dreams (feat. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson)
One More Time
1989 (feat. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson)
Toulouse (feat. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson)
Pigalle
Big Rick
Save Me
Mr Wu
Hold On (feat. Lauren Faith)
Early Prayer
Also recommended
