A.J. Holmes and the Hackney Empire - Soft Power
- Written by Rob Crozier
If you like your music with a cheeky twist, and something a bit different, then the second album by A.J. Holmes and the Hackney Empire could be for you. Soft Power is the ability to attract, rather than use force as a means of persuasion. It’s also a really good album delivered in a cheeky Cockney style where the East End of London meets West Africa.
Its main contributor, A.J. Holmes was raised in London’s East End, and has been surrounded by a vast multicultural environment as he flowered as part of the white underclass. African music in particular caught his ear, and as luck would have it, he moved next door to a legend of West African music... which obviously helps.
This new album features nine tracks and opens with the wonderfully titled 'The Revolution Will Not Be Twitterized'. Holmes muses about the perceived need for society to display every facet of daily life, which is backed by a wonderful African and Brazilian rhythm section.
One of the stand out tracks of the album, 'Martyn's Elephant Charm’, displays the perfect balance that runs through the whole album. On one hand you have Holmes' Cockney swagger, singing and chatting about weird and wonderful superstitions from the days of old. This is backed with an infectious African rhythm known as Soukous, which hails from Congo. It’s pretty hard to imagine a more diverse melting pot than that, and yet it still delivers.
This band manages to deliver an education in African music whilst entertaining with off-beat humour, which is certainly something you’re unlikely to have experienced before. However, as if to illustrate that they are not one dimensional, the track 'Ghost Daddy’ creates a haunting beauty through softly spoken narrative and wonderful wordplay.
Their unique approach to their craft hails from the band’s extravagant live performances, and it’s obvious that this energy has been captured on this album. Holmes has been likened to a new kind of Ian Dury. This comes from the rather unique style of his vocal delivery and on-stage confidence. Yet Dury never had a thumping African rhythm section and a wonderful catalogue of Afro-Brazilian sounds to call upon.
'Mein Liebster Feind' (My Best Friend) is a quirky track which again draws together a variety of different styles, yet once again works beautifully. It delivers a wordy call to arms for us all to simply:
“Dance like nobody’s watching / Sing like nobody’s listening”
The subtle African sounds and rhythms encase the track making it a delight. Soft Power is a wonderfully diverse album which celebrates a whole world of music which does not always reach many people’s ears. Thankfully, this album acts as a musical bridge for those wishing to explore more, or simply just for those who love their music a bit left field.