THERE ARE no spectres, wraiths or phantoms in Lutan Fyah's Phantom War, as the topics of the Greensleeves album are very clear.
Two of them, ghetto life and Rasta, are addressed by the title song, which comes approximately quarter way through the 19 tracks, while relationships get consecutive four-song treatment with U Left Me, Reflections, Learn The Hard Way and Rich Little Ghetto Girl as the set gets into double digits.
Mother Earth's Healing ("she's always there to feed her children") is put in for a nature note.
FAMILIAR TOPICS ADDRESSED
There is hardly anything stunningly original in the way the familiar topics are addressed, but Lutan Fyah's good delivery over the roots reggae rhythms, good lines popping up intermittently, is sufficient to keep the album from falling into the abyss of clichés. So he is somewhat gritty over guitars on the opening Plant A Seed ("I an' I going to Zion, this is no sleepwalking ..."), the grit becomes a rasp on the second go-round of the chorus of the second song, Blood Stain and "yu see natty wid him yo-yo, pon him one wheel bicycle try no rise up me tempo" in Rasta Still Deh Bout is still fresh though now familiar.
On the title track, which addresses the ghetto youth, Lutan Fyah creates a decent image of a familiar scene with "dem soldier come dung inna camouflage an some big black boot/de yutes rol out in dem garrison troop/who no get box up dem get bruise."
POVERTY AND THE GHETTO
And so it continues, with poverty, the ghetto and its residents being addressed again on Bits and Pieces, Wipe Those Tears, Screaming For the Poor, Still Deh Deh, Turbulent Time and Snares of Death, the "streetside, board house and zinc fence" also getting a look in on The Fire, a commitment to keep on blazing.
I find the lyrics of the relationship songs, on which Lutan Fyah shows his ability to adapt his voice to the softer topic, more striking. So after he goes into a falsetto at the start of U Left Me he promises "no vanity to dazzle your eyes. I bring you gifts, cherries, Julie mango. Play you a song from me ol' granpa banjo" (and he still squeezes in mention of the "streetside ghetto"). And in Learn The Hard Way he complains "you were my honey but now you bitter like vinegar? you a party every day when I'm not around. And when I talk hey woman you come dis me with a frown."
Musicians on the set, who provide solid support without much in the way of individual flourish, include Stanley Hamilton, Davy Appiano, Prince Emmanuel Smith, Omar 'Jilanzo' Johnson, Andrew 'Moon' Bain, 'Dusty' Miller, Ansel Collins, Danny 'Bassy' Dennis, Paul 'Wrongmove' Crossdale and Bongo Herman.
Track listing
1. Plant a Seed (I & I)
2. Blood Stain
3. Wi Nuh Gangsta (Fighting For Equal Rights)
4. Rasta Still Deh Bout
(featuring Josie Mel)
5. Phantom War
6. Bits & Pieces
7. Wipe Those Tears
8. Mother Earth's Healing
9. Screaming For The Poor
10. U Left Me
11. Reflections
12. Learn The Hard Way
13. Rich Little Ghetto Girl
14. Bet On It
15. This Fire
16. Still Deh Deh
17. Turbulent Time
18. Snares of Death
19. Plant a Seed (Reprise)
In Learn The Hard Way he complains 'you were my honey but now you bitter like vinegar? you a party every day when I'm not around. And when I talk hey woman you come dis me with a frown.'
- Mel Cooke
