This is a quick overview of Dare Art Alade’s last album; Un.DAREY.ted. A more detailed including track by track review will be coming up soon.

I admire Dare Art Alade. One does not need to listen to the album a million times to be aware of the hard work that went into its making. He has definitely worked so much on his singing since his last album and it has clearly paid off on his performance in un.DAREY.ted. His singing is much more confident, mature; and the singing gymnastics, simpler and better delivered. The feat could not have been achieved without hard work; only, I wished he had managed to make it all appear falsely easy, natural. His singing keeps hitting me from my speakers, powerful, bold and determined and I cannot but be totally soaked in the effort. I am glad he, at least, is making a serious effort to make music, unlike many…no, millions who now claim to have taken to music in today’s Nigeria.

Dare definitely stands out. However, if he is underrated, there might be a good reason for it. If I underrate him, I probably have good reason for it. It may however not be deserved. Dare needs to define himself musically. I would love to see him do so. There’s so much of him he appears not to be tapping into just yet! All the effort seems to be directed at tapping into some icons he really appreciates. That is good. It helps to develop musically but then, I believe there is always a time to look genuinely inwards- for self definition. For Dare, that should have been before un.DAREY.ted, not that it is now too late. Dare, we love you but then, where, really are you? True, you can sing juju, fuji, apala, R n’ b, jazz or whatever; it’s the result of hard work but to do that convincingly as self is another matter. Also, too much caution in singing helps to dull the sound, kill conviction. I blame a lot of the lack of conviction on the cautious singing. Yes, there’s an evident need, pressure to sing well but there’s also a need for a let go. Also, I am not sure being underrated should be celebrated. It should be fought…and defeated! Dare is yet to arrive. His being underrated is definitely undeserved if he hasn’t more to offer. I am waiting. I want to see more. We would be happy to see more.

Isn’t orchestration the use of orchestra instruments to create desired musical effects? From that perspective, there was definitely no orchestration in the entire album; not one orchestra instrument was used. Was confusion intended when the album sleeves were made to read “All tracks orchestrated in Nigeria by Tee-Y Mix…”? The album was definitely well produced. Tee-Y Mix did a good job producing, interpreting the songs; and the mixing was well done too, better than most works coming from Nigerian artistes. Cobhams Asuquo didn’t do a bad job either, on those two tracks.

If you haven’t seen his videos for this album, here they are in the order of release. Apparently, there is some sort of story being told across all three. In order, Not The Girl, More, No Stars. And don’t you forget to come back for the full album review!

No Longer At Ease landed on my desk unsolicited. I had heard of Nneka prior to this but while what I heard was good, I wasn’t too impressed. I felt she was trying too hard to be relevant and “conscious” so I was initially reluctant to listen to it. That is until a comparison was made with Asa’s album. The fact that the CD packaging was standard, not the usual paper envelope crap that most Nigerian CD’s are forced to use, was definitely a big plus. 

Unlike previous reviews, I’m not going to go track by track because that format simply won’t work in this case. No Longer At Ease is an album is meant to be listened to and digested as a whole. It maintains a consistent and occasionally raw perspective on life. In fact this paradigm through which she views the world occassionally had me wondering just what pains this young woman must have gone through.

From the title of the album which I’m sure is reference to Chinua Achebe’s classic by the same name, since a lot of the same themes are evident throughout this album, to the album cover art which portrays an innocent optimism tempered by experience and an indomitable spirit, to the choice in musical styles which range from her own take on reggae, to hip hop to jazz to a little 70′s style surf rock. 

My only grouch with  No Longer At Ease is that the emotional range is too narrow, but thats countered by the suprisingly diverese production and vocal styles used. And talking about production; the quality is superb. The intrumentals are always at the right balance with her voice, never overpowering and always complementing her voice. 

Creativity, passion, talent, depth, awareness, hints of a channeled and focused anger, a sprinkling of humor, almost childlike energy and innocence at times and a self confidence created like a diamond in the intense fires and pressures of life are just a few of the elements that contributed to making No Longer At Ease a true work of art.

In my opinion it is one of, if not, the most innovative, artistically consistent and complete albums of our time. No Longer At Ease sums up the nigerian musical and cultural renaissance. There is much to say about No Longer At Ease and I’ll have to come back to it once I’ve fully digested it.

Let me issue a warning now. If what you seek is the typical bubble gum, formulaic compositions that so many artists musicians are drawn to, you will be disappointed. 

My recommendation? Buy it, enjoy it, study it, appreciate it and keep it safe. 10 years from now you’ll be glad you did.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1n4gHp2t20