– THE PEACEFUL PROTEST –

Johannesburg-born, Doncaster-raised Doya Beardmore (AKA Skinny Pelembe) made his glorious return this week with his new album Dreaming Is Dead Now and the provocatively-titled No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish is an undoubted highlight.

The track draws inspiration from both sides of Beardmore’s heritage with Afrobeat percussion and taut guitar lines standing side-by-side with London-centric broken-beat bass lines and Ayia Napa-baiting (sorry, Skinny) vocals.

The title refers to a particularly infamous sign that 1950’s landlords would place in their windows and Beardmore, himself, has spoken of how the song explores his own experiences of racism in the modern-day UK.

“You don’t see me here. You don’t see me anywhere” he says, somewhat ironically, because, if the focus is supposed to be on Beardmore’s vocals, he at least wants you to work for it – hiding them low in the mix (as is his wont, admittedly).

Instead, what takes precedence is that groove that combines organic and electronic elements so astoundingly. Part Radiohead-esque apocalyptica, part Fatoumata Diawara/Disclosure Ultimatum-style mash-up, No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish is a vivid and vibrant yet disquieting look at post-Brexit Britain.

Dreaming is Dead Now was released last week.

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

HUMAN BLOOM: CAPILLARY
KATE TEMPEST: HOLY ELIXIR
CID RIM FEAT. LYLIT: FURTHER
JJ WHITEFIELD: YELLOW SARI

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –