Chapters of My Life

This debut recording from the Atlanta-based Cameroonian singer and guitarist reveals a very eccentric persona, Moken's voice creeping from a deep resonance up to falsetto trilling, with highly theatrical diction throughout. Flashes of Paul Robeson and Tiny Tim infiltrate the listener's imagination. Moken touches on the comedic, although this doesn’t make him any less arresting.

The band backing him provide Hawaiian-style sliding guitar, stuttering strums, soft spurts of synth, slick little drum rolls and female backing vocals, these latter sparingly used, but bearing strategic importance. Both the vocals and guitars have an oscillating effect, full of low-level rock licks, and the overall production (by Blick Bassy and Jean Lamoot) sounds like something from David Byrne's Luaka Bop stable. The songs are superbly arranged, with subtle dynamic switches.

Several ditties have notably quirky lyrics: ‘Walkin’ Man’ recounts the period he spent living in his car while studying fashion design in Detroit and ‘A Bone to Grind With Einstein’ includes the refrain ‘he stole my look: he took my hair, he took my moustache,’ sung in a castrato Bryan Ferry/Fela Kuti quiver. Moken's distinctly odd vocal stylings also manage to combine elements of Marc Bolan and Edith Piaf, in surely one of this year's most adventurous globally styled releases.