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Uganda: Obsessions Back Oiled And Armed
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New Vision (Kampala)
8 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Joseph Batte
Kampala
WHEN the Obsessions released Nod Your Head, their first album in 2004, they hit their share of brick walls in the studio. They were poor singers.
Although they shot some cute video clips, they sang like a bunch of high school students in a miming contest, who cared more about their looks than how they sounded. But as fate would have it, the boys left, leaving Ronnie Mulindwa, Remmy and the girls' hearts bleeding with pain.
Enter top songwriter Silver Kyagulanyi in 2006. He whispered into Ronnie's ears that he could actually turn the remaining girls into pop singers. Pessimistic, Mulindwa did not think so.
He thought the girls - Brenda, Hellen, Sharon, Cleo and Jackie were better dancers than singers. But Kyagulanyi knew otherwise. He insisted. The result was Weekume.
Although tracks like Weekume and, Jangu Jangu swept across the country like a wild fire, some critics insisted the Obsessions sounded like a bunch of singing waitresses in a restaurant. A lot of water has since flowed under the bridge. Cleo left to pursue a career in journalism, followed by Helen and Brenda.
But if you thought the desertions meant the Obsessions' days in the sunlight were over, you were wrong.
The group has zoomed back with a new album titled, Beegonza. If we are to go by the musicality of the new album, the Obsessions are more oiled and armed for this year. It is amazing how they have redefined themselves in their music.
They have shown a lot more flexibility in the music by slightly moving away from their comfort zone of Luganda mid-tempo Afro pop that characterised Wekuume. They have settled on a sound that suits their girlish voices.
The album is salted with radio-ready, ear-friendly songs that draw on contemporary musical styles like Ragga, RnB and Afro pop. Some of the tracks, like Shake Your Booty, a bass-pumping dance tune that could light up hipster dance parties, have a menacing vibe.
Musically, they sound more mature. And credit should not only go to the songwriters, but to producers Henry Kiwuuwa, Washington and Steve Jean for providing a clanging whopper of modern beats that helped the Obsessions revisit their status as urban music stars without losing their identity.
In Bagala Twawula, Sharon and Ronnie Mulindwa seem to scoff at the hacks who think they no longer see eye to eye.
The arrangements are elegantly spare: subtle works of guitar, keyboards, but at the centre of it all, the Obsessions' innocent voice, as expressive as ever.
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One of the top cuts on the album is the groovy Shake Your Booty, where the girls' vocals bob alongside Bebe Cool's. It is a sure-fire hit whose pulse is firmly on the dance side of songs like Mwekutte.
The other songs on the album like Begonza, Napoteza, and Feel Me, are solid. The singers' 'girlish' voices sound stronger, consistent and full of optimism. They are more animated when singing.
They have so much confidence now that when recording in the studio, they only needed to do one take most of the times. Two years ago, it was a nightmare.
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| Copyright © 2008 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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