Chronixx feat Kabaka Pyramid – Same Prayer – Review

June 12, 2020

Chronixx feat Kabaka Pyramid: Same Prayer Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com.

Having Chronixx and Kabaka Pyramid on one track together is always a perfect recipe. But combine those two stellar artists with some wholly inspired composition and arrangement, and you’ve got something utterly delicious and compelling.

Chronixx feat Kabaka Pyramid Same Prayer, released via Soul Circle Music, is an intriguing and deft mix of Soul and Roots – so, effectively 2020 Neo Soul. That should come as little surprise, as production is from Zion I Kings (the driving force behind Blakkamoore’s recent and stunning album Upward Spiral). It’s top-class across the track and showcases the genius of both this stellar production outfit and, of course, Chronixx and Pyramid.

It opens with haunting djembe drums tinkering a dotted rhythm; a pleasing nod to the cultural roots of both genres that are in play. But the Soul leanings are clear from the off and as the track progresses. For example, the electric guitars employ heavy vibrato, reverb and bending, but are used more as background colour than a prominent palette.

Same Prayer’s keys are pure Soul – performing complex, chromatic demisemiquaver glissandos and improv in the upper treble clef along with arpeggio chords. Added in is an occasional electric organ with the vibrato switch on. And the horns are glorious, flitting between muted and unmuted techniques and running brief but diverse riffs – a mixture of rapid fire runs and pointed, tongued staccato licks.

The classic Soul device of beginning a chord progression on the final semiquaver before the beat is used to extremely good effect – creating momentum but also adding smoothness and fluidity to the track. This is driven by the decaying low-passed strings (an engineering trick which flows in and out in waves), generally working off semibreves and breves, which give an astral feel to the track.

Drums run around a complex hi-hat and snare roll, with the former working off semiquavers and performing variations on dotted rhythms, while the latter hits the two and four. The kick performs a heartbeat rhythm, hitting the semiquaver before and then directly onto beats one and three. It’s all a bit Motown (check the kick on Marvin Gaye’s I Heard It Through The Grapevine) and draws in more Soul. Meanwhile the bass is heavily syncopated and chromatic, dropping the direct one but hitting the proceeding offbeat. But this rhythmic arrangement hints at the other genre in play.

Because what Zion I Kings have done so masterfully is that the chorus then switches subtly into Roots. The preceding synth drums, heavily reverbed, indicate where Same Prayer is heading. Then the keys double up their role, performing a bubble rhythm, which is the key driver of the mood-change. A horn line has been engineered and EQd to make it sound synth; mimicking the basic melody. The overriding feeling, though, is still one of Soul; even the kick can’t bring itself to drop the one.

But there’s also a glorious bridge after Pyramid’s solo which incorporates all the genres in play – most notably bringing in more traditional African elements including a gorgeous wooden flute (possibly an atenteben or similar), yet whose improvised solo has all the hallmarks of Jazz; not least the use of octave multiphonics at points and the rhythmic juxtapositioning to Same Prayer’s other lines.

The use of chant-like background vocals coupled with more Soul call and response continues this genre smashing, and the sparse, haunting conclusion – with just the djembe, muted trumpet, keys and Chronixx’s chant – brings Same Prayer back to where it started.

This highly complex composition is certainly one of the more impressive of 2020; not least due to its level of intricacy and the clear depth of thought that Zion I Kings have put into it. But it also serves as the perfect platform for the two artists.

Chronixx has one of the most recognisable voices of the past decade. It would be remiss to call him a Roots vocalist, as he is far more diverse than that. Here, his delicate yet tightly enunciated performance is exceptionally well-controlled, breathing full life into the powerful lyrical content. His use of intonation is very expressive, as is his overall delivery – and his performance exudes humble passion. Pyramid is, as always, wonderful – giving an elegant and also very controlled performance. His style of taking singjay and turning it into a pure, Soul drenched vocal performance is one of his trademarks – and it works deliciously with Chronixx’s. The lyrical content, singing praise to Jah and proclaiming faith in the path you’ve been given, is pertinent right now – and the whole track exudes peace, succour and unity.

Chronixx feat Kabaka Pyramid Same Prayer is stunning. Zion I Kings have produced something highly intelligent and yet aurally pleasing, maintaining your interest over multiple listens due to the complexity of the composition. Chronixx and Pyramid deliver sublime performances in droves – and the end product is one of the stronger releases of the year. Wonderful.