Pure Confusion [LP]

King Ayisoba - Pure Confusion [LP]

Pioneering Ghanaian musician King Ayisoba returns with his forthcoming seventh album “Pure Confusion”, recorded and produced by On-U-Sound’s Adrian Sherwood. Ayisoba is one of Ghana’s most distinctive musical voices. The world’s foremost player of the kologo - a homemade two-string lute fashioned from a calabash and covered in goatskin - he delivers fiercely political and socially observant songs using three different voices, including the voice of his grandfather that possessed him as a child. Sherwood meanwhile is the pioneering British producer and founder of On-U Sound whose hugely influential career has connected dub, post-punk, industrial, hip hop and experimental music through collaborations with artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Mark Stewart, Horace Andy, Sinead O’Connor, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode. Ayisoba and Sherwood first collaborated during a BBC Radio 3 “Late Junction” session at Maida Vale in 2017, organized by Ayisoba’s long-time collaborator Arnold de Boer/Zea of The Ex. The pair immediately connected, and during the pandemic, when Adrian’s long-time African Head Charge collaborator Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah was in Ghana looking for musicians to collaborate with, Sherwood suggested Ayisoba, who eventually featured on two tracks on African Head Charge’s 2023 album “A Trip To Bolgatanga” (Bolgantanga is the region Ayisoba is from). Ayisoba then returned to the UK in late 2024 and traveled to Sherwood’s Ramsgate studio where the pair laid down the songs that would become “Pure Confusion”: “All the songs were already in my head,” says Ayisoba. “This album is all recorded live, over one afternoon. Adrian only plays live, and I like that. And he works hard - he doesn’t sleep. I woke up in the night and he was still working.” “In my role producing it, I just let it roll to make a good vibe,” says Sherwood. “We recorded it completely live, did some programming and processing on some tracks, using dub techniques live on the mixing desk and adding some slick touches. We wanted the colors on the album to swing off what Ayisoba was doing, so we invited some friends to participate. Doug Wimbish (Sugar Hill Gang) arrived from America and lent his services playing bass on a couple of tracks; the wonderful Ivan Hussey (Celloman) played bass, keyboards and cello - cello is not really featured on African recordings so we thought it would be really cool to try it. I'd been working with Alex White (Fat White Family/Primal Scream) on my album (The Collapse of Everything) and so he added sax to a few tracks and I brought Alan Glenn down especially - Alan was in Little Axe but also Nine Below Zero and played in the Yardbirds – to add some mouth organ; Mark Bandola added a bit of flavor with his Juno, Ayisoba’s long-time Ghanian collaborator Ayuune Sule added some percussion and vocals and Matt Smith did some programming.” “King Ayisoba is quite amazing, so unique,” Sherwood continues. “He’s got his own handmade instrument and three different voices - when you’re listening you think it’s three different people. He’s a breath of fresh air, full of love for the music which he wants to share with everybody. Some tracks we kept very straight and others we experimented with - adding dubby psychedelic little touches to trip you out a bit. The added production we did at On-U has given it a shine while still keeping it vibrant, live and spontaneous. I’m really proud of this record”. On “Pure Confusion”, Ayisoba documents the anxieties, contradictions. and changing social realities of contemporary Ghana. “Land is a problem for everyone,” says Ayisoba of the opening track “Property”. “If you don’t build on your land they will take it away. Plenty corruption in Ghana, plenty confusion. They sell the land to two, three, four people and then everybody fights.” Elsewhere Ayisoba explores illness, spirituality, and social stigma on “Bemba”, warning against hiding sickness out of shame or fear of “bad juju”: “People hide their sickness and the sickness kills them.” “Tewigiloge” reflects on cultural difference and open-mindedness encountered through world travel: “We will tour the whole world and we will see many things we may not like or understand… your eyes will see, but don’t talk - you have to be open-minded.” Spirituality runs deeply throughout the album. Ayisoba’s grandfather was a respected spiritual healer whose presence the musician says still guides him today. “The grandparents’ spirits are the ones you can contact,” he explains of the spiritual chant “Nkaase”. “This song talks about the forefathers.” The closing track “Leeda-Mampanga (It’s Not My Strength)” acts as a statement of humility and gratitude: “You have to be humble, even if you have talent. God gives you the power.” For more than two decades, King Ayisoba has been one of Africa’s most distinctive musical innovators, transforming northern Ghanaian kologo traditions into a bold contemporary sound rooted in hypnotic rhythms, social commentary and spiritual intensity. Since the breakthrough success of 2006’s Modern Ghanaians, Ayisoba has built an international following through acclaimed albums, relentless touring and collaborations with artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Orlando Julius and African Head Charge. Performances at Roskilde, WOMAD, Le Guess Who? and the Barbican have further cemented his reputation as a singular live performer and cultural force. Born in Bolgatanga in rural northern Ghana in 1974, King Ayisoba descended from a Fra Fra hunting tribe (as a nod to his family’s farming history his songs are often punctuated with ‘baaaah’s and other imitations of animal cries). A prodigy on the kologo, the instrument quickly became “like an extended part of his body”, with not a single day passing without him playing. Ayisoba rose to national prominence with his debut album “Modern Ghanaians” in 2006. The album took Ghana by surprise and the hit single “I Want To See You My Father” spread like wildfire across the country, earning him three Ghana Music Awards in 2007. De Boer was in Ghana at this time and hearing the song everywhere he chased down Aysioba, starting a working-relationship (under his Zea pseudonym) that is now almost two decades-long. De Boer has since released various albums with Ayisoba, brought him on European tours multiple times, eventually hooking Ayisoba up with Europe’s influential Glitterbeat Records for the albums “1000 Can Die” (2017) and “Work Hard” (2023), which alongside international touring has helped build an international reputation for him as one of Africa’s most distinctive and uncompromising musical voices. “Pure Confusion” also includes the bonus track “No Tradition, No Africa” featuring Grammy-nominated Ghanaian artist Rocky Dawuni, produced by Panji Anoff. ________________________________________ “King Ayisoba has reshaped the northern Ghanaian tradition of kologo into a new national sufferers sound” The Wire — ________________________________________ “An unholy mix of Tom Waits and Busta Rhymes” Songlines — ________________________________________ “Thrilling and insistent harsh-edged vocals” The Guardian — A1. Property A2. Dey Come A3. Tewogilige A4. Memsoh A5. Bemba B1. Ndelange-Taba B2. Nkaase B3. Leeda-Mampanga B4. No Tradition, No Africa