In a perfect world no-one would ask you 'Ola Who?' if you said that you're excited about the sheer quality of Ola Onabule's new album Ambitions For Deeper Breadth, because Ola would be the household name he deserves to be. But this is no perfect world and Ola's only a household name to the people in the know. And those may already know and cherish his three previous albums More Soul Than Sense, From Meaning Beyond Definition and Precious Libations For Silent Gods. Not being a superstar with a major label contract has also some advantages, though, like setting up your own label like Ola did with Rugged Ram and thus giving you totally artistic freedom. And if you possess one of the best voices in modern soul music and write your own songs then the end result is a really great and diverse album.
The whole album has more of a live feel to it (like for example N'Dambi's Tunin Up & Cosignin had) thanks to musicans like Frank Tontoh and Ash Soan (drums), Winston Blissett and Phil Mulford (Bass), Tony Smith and Dave Ital (guitar), Matt Johnson and Pete Adams (keyboards) [I wonder if that's Matt Johnson of The The fame], Satin Singh (percussion), Chris "Snake" Davis (saxophone), John Thirkle (trumpet and flugelhorn) and Jacqui Hicks and Linda Taylor (background vocals).
Ambitions reminds me of classic soul albums of the 70ies, an organic overall feel, songs dealing with life, love and social matters like the funky opener Closer ('Life can seek you out just to grief you out/ Till you can’t remember what’s worth fighting for/ Don’t let it smack you down, till hope runs aground/ Get connected to what is best inside of you'), the political aware Lagos Boy ('Lagos boy face up to the truth/ Hope is fading, chances slipping from us/ And neither joy nor pride in victory past/ Can stay the closing, if tomorrows failings are sealed/ Lagos boy I have heard the world’s/ No longer listening, and long stopped caring about us/ It’s bitter joy, guiding home the lost/ Whose fated journey is not beginning to end') which has a great percussive outro, the gospel-influenced Wonderful about a man who's life is on the decline ('Now they circle him, the prey caught in flight/ Distant shadow of once inspiring sight/ Since you ain’t what you were/ Take whatever's on offer/ The degradation will tame your wild soul') or the beautiful Changed with lyrics that wouldn't be out of place on a Stevie Wonder record ('There was a home in your heart but it’s closed/ And there’s a cut in your soul in which no love can grow/ One day you’ll know how it feels to be alone/ Till then you won’t change').
But it's really hard to pick out some favourites (should it be the lullaby-like Catch Me or maybe the soulful We Don't Know from whose lyrics the album title sprung ['Trapped between a vision of heaven/ As everlasting happiness/ And the quest for wealth and ambition/ Far beneath ambition for deeper breadth/ We’ll say that’s just the way it is/ Impossible but meant to be/ Some kinda mystic destiny/ But we can’t know, don’t know']) because all twelve songs are great.
If you don't buy much albums in a year make sure Ola's Ambitions For Deeper Breadth is amongst them otherwise your list of best albums 2002 will miss one of the bests!