J. S. Ondara: Tales Of America - 2019

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This is an excellent debut album from Kenyan-born J.S. Ondara, now settled in the USA. Ondara has a light, almost falsetto voice that sounds so female, that upon first listening I immediately said "Tracy Chapman". The comparisons do not end there, either - the evocative acoustic guitar strummed backing, the meaningful, socially-aware lyrics and the very soulful delivery in the vocals. 

The first four tracks on the album are the best - American Dream, Torch Song, Saying Goodbye and Days Of Insanity. There are also hints of Bruce Springsteen's acoustic work too. On the cover he looks like a 1920s-30s bluesman with the hat and the black and white photograph. The songs are largely Ondara's observations on life in the USA as an African immigrant. You would imagine, these days, it may be a long litany of nightmare tales of discrimination and prejudice. Strangely enough, however, Ondara seems surprisingly upbeat and positive on many occasions. Not all, there are still some hard-hitting lines, but there is more optimism than one may have expected. Let's hope everything goes well for him.

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