Try and Love - Ofege (1973)

Listened: 8/13

I was trying to find a specific Zimbabwean psychedlic 70s band that I had listened to a while ago so I went to similar artists from a Zimbabwean band in that genre and stumbled on this album. Ofege is a Nigerian group from Lagos I believe. According to somebody on reddit (take it with a grain of salt guys) these members were about 16 when they recorded this, if that's the case then jesus fucking christ. This album is super enjoyable. It's like my brain is really happy with a sweet and salty combo the same way this is a combo of some African beats/syncopation with familiar western styles of vocals/harmonies/guitars. I really tend to lock in on the beats of the songs and I felt like some of the beats on this album were unnatural to me in a really good way, it wasn't what my brain was used to and it was trying to process it the same way I do western beats but it didn't work. So I was happily surprised to be sonically challenged listening to this and disrupt my natural flow of processing. The guitar work is really reminiscent of Santana on some parts but then the harmonies will come in with some 60s chamber pop Zombies shit it was so cool to listen to. Seems like a great album to listen to any time but particularly enjoyable in the summer. Excited to check out more of their stuff. Favorite tracks: Nobody Fails, Gbe Mi Lo, It's Not Easy, You Say No.