0000 + 0000

Near the end of 2020, three years after releasing the groundbreaking IIII + IIII, percussionist/composer/DJ/producer Mark Underwood (aka Ifá priest Otura Mun, aka IFÉ), moved to New Orleans after two decades in Puerto Rico. 0000 + 0000 is the result of that relocation's inspiration. Like its predecessor, its title reflects prophetic Ifá numeric codes. The musical approach travels the African diaspora to the Caribbean and eventually to NOLA's Congo Square to exhort listeners to embrace fearlessness in life and death while combining and recombining musical and cultural traditions throughout. "Preludio II" commences with majestic synth chords before New Orleans singer Lex chants what could be a nursery rhyme framed by a lilting summery groove composed of electronics and beats over an incantatory chorus performed by Polish-American vocalist Lavoski. The urgent "Fake Blood" offers guest Robby the Lord (of Paris, France's Yoruban community) upfront. Its chant, lyrics, and anthemic refrain offer responses to Adam Curtis' controversial, Matrix-esque 2016 BBC documentary HyperNormalisation. It asserts that multinational corporations have created a simpler "fake world" over the complex "real world," and have designated politicians to govern it. At the same time, the tune's lyrics challenge contradictory expressions of American grief, anger, fear, and indifference to a 2017 mass shooting on the Las Vegas strip. Throughout, organic hand drumming and synthetic percussion and loops frame splintered keys and urgent vocals from an international backing chorus with trancelike circularity. "Wednesday's Child" commences with handclaps, a Wurlitzer pulsing sharded minor chords, brittle loops, and the guitar of Yoruban six-string king Saint Ezekiel. Amid shakers from Pedro Segundo and an autotuned backing chorale from Lex and Lavoski, Mun sings, "We were born feet first/Daddy was a devil, momma bore his worst/In a rich man's town/Holy are the hands that will hold me down/They drown me, sister, won't you see me home/These wolves surround me/ Unbound me...." She interjects solo fills and affirmations underscoring a narrative propelled by brooding beats. "The Tearer" is a dark, steamy, brooding Bembe chant juxtaposing themes of romance, life, death, eros, strength, and transcendence framed by booming digital dub and interlocking percussion. The smooth, spidery, beat-conscious reading of the Invincibles' 1965 hit "Heart Full of Love" features Saint Ezekiel's gorgeous bluesy guitar above a bubbling looped groove and Lavoski's layered, tender -- and Sade-esque -- vocals. The set ends on the spiritual tip with "Closing Prayer," a traditional Lucumi song performed by Mun with the nine-voice London Lucumi Choir and native New Orleanians Bill Summers (ex-Headhunters) and Brad Broomfield (Jordanian National Orchestra), who add rootsy electronic percussion to Mun's immense atmospherics. The range of musicians and singers on 0000 + 0000 provides IFÉ with foundation and ballast across an expansive, captivating, ever-informative sound world that simultaneously embraces spirituality, life cycles, conflict, resolution, and ultimately transcendence. Get it. ~ Thom Jurek