MOBO and Soul Train awards-nominated reggae crooner Tarrus Riley releases a new video for the catchy and sure-to-be-fan-favourite single Lighter,which features international recording artiste Shenseea and prolific music producer Rvssian, from his latest album titled Healing.
Riley leans into a brawny, yet subtle, vocal performance that, without fanfare, synchonises flawlessly with Shenseea – who fluently sashays across the famed producer’s sonics, for the outing. The dexterity of the engineering on Lighter showcases a delicate, but credible, dancehall ‘riddim’ with a distinct international flair. Though late in its candidacy, the trio manages to merge into an ebullient team that easily petitions the ‘summer banger’ inventory.
Lighter appears on Singy Singy’s (Riley’s secondary moniker) latest 12-track release, Healing, on which he ruminates on the quality of life, healing, hope, family, human resolve and connection, as well as matters of the heart and the recurring social unrest, and other issues, persisting across the globe.
“Poor immigrants, have mercy on the, poor immigrants. Poor immigrants, have pity on the, poor immigrants… stories we’ve been told and can’t find no streets of gold. Lock inna freeza, an haffi shovel snow in da cold,” Singy Singy describes on Poor Immigrants which shows off the ingenuity of the artiste’s long-time collaborator Shane Brown.
The singer details, on the track, the many incarnations undertaken by people who leave their homeland in pursuit of a better life, explaining “mi nuh have no uncle name Uncle Sam, call me human, nuh call mi alien. No, the sun shines for everyone, and the rain falls for everyone, the wind blows for everyone. Tell you this world is for everyone.”
Another notably track, Babylon Warfare is, undoubtedly, influenced by reggae icons Max Romeo & The Upsetters’ War Ina Babylon. The song aptly reimagines the classic’s entrancing hook to convey a timely message in the music. The hook is an earworm that woefully repeats “racial war ina Babylon, political war ina Babylon, critical war ina Babylon,” but is also hopeful that the pervading harrow be dealt with, singing “full time we step outta Babylon.”
Dancehall wizard Teejay, who features on Babylon Warfare along with legendary saxophonist Dean Fraser, succinctly recounts the existing turbulence across many marginalised communities, pouring out lyrics such as “inna Mobay town, anno playground, when shot ah fire inna riddim, anno Rae Town.”
On Family Tree, Riley shares of the importance of unity and love, reminding to “protect yuh yute” and warns of the neverending need to maintain and preserve the family.
Singy Singy draws for some of the music industry staples like Konshens (Connect Again) and Dexta Daps (My Fire) to help actualise the varying narratives of the Healing project.
o-access JAMAICA 