Sound Therapy

French multi-instrumentalist, singer and producer Julien Souletie has been working under the name Manjul from his own Humble Ark Studio in Bamako, Mali. In addition to producing other artists, notably Sugar Minott and The African Brothers, he has released three volumes of his Dub to Mali, fusing West African traditional instrumentation with dub reggae production techniques.

On his latest album he joins with French sound engineer François FX Vilaverde and drummer Yvo Abadi. Manjul sings main vocals on four tracks and others feature guests including Cornell Campbell, Clinton Fearon and Cedric Myton. It’s a varied collection ranging from two-tone-style ska, through soulful conscious lyrics to dub poetry. Manjul’s trademark African influence is present throughout with a sprinkling of West African instrumentation; and a couple of tracks feature Congolese vocalist Jupiter Bokondji, who sing-talks in Lingala and French on the excellent ‘L’Homme’. Great production and memorable songwriting. The digital release has a ganja-soaked bonus take on Stevie Wonder’s ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life’, here as ‘Green Sunshine’.