Album-Review: SOJA - Strength To Survive
02/01/2012
Geared to tell a story, an odyssey of sorts… as Jacob Hemphill explains, like that of Bob Marley and the Wailers' Survival album, the Strength to Survive album opens with SOJA's signature meaty horns, heavy drum and bass and the lines, "We were the students but now we're the ones who teach, we were the children told the lies that we believed." An answer record to their previous release, Born in Babylon the band links with ATO Records, Dave Matthews' boutique label and his super producer, John Alagia (who produces the likes of John Mayer, Rachel Yamagata and etc.) to embellish what are already strong songs. Adding extra guitar licks, moody keys, like on the title track, Strength to Survive the mix clears the pathway for commercial radio to take this music to the wider rock audience.
On Don't Worry the song opens with a classic rock ballad feel and stays in that tempo with a bit of a one-drop feel, while the philosopher Jacob Hemphill asks a series of questions which relate to the human experience: "Why do we have to break down in order to feel? Why do we have to hurt ourselves in order to feel? Why do we learn the right way by doing wrong? Why does it start to make sense when its in a song?" As a prolific songwriter, Jacob moves in the realm of the creative genius, exploring our role as humans in healing our world, and what he have done to destroy it.
The song Tell Me rolls into a reggae one drop out of the gate with a catchy chorus, graceful, complex horn lines and lyrics directed to his well established female fan base. It addresses the trust between those who move as a couple, and that instant attraction that can be felt as part of the dance we do as humans to make a love connection.
Moving into the world state of affairs, It's Not Too Late rides a sparse riddim with the bass line as the centerpiece, echoing Wailers' Family Man Barrett's signature sound on the song "Survival", Jacob reminds that "There's not too much for me to say, this whole thing is our responsibility, and I mean everyone, we seal our fate, is under Jah sun, it's your sun….no use in fighting your brother, we're all in it together, this whole earth is your mother and I work for the father."
Exploring our precious time on this planet and staying positive, Jacob sings on Gone Today- "I could be gone tomorrow, tomorrow could closer it could be so far away…" Exploring this idea of walking the right road, or making a difference, the song has a familiar feel, the chord progression reminds of a Rootz Underground tune and Jacob actually gives a direct nod to the RU song Corners of My Mind referencing in his lyrics, …."Like Underground says, it stays in the corners of my soul."
As a child of parents that chose to live and work in Africa when he was a youth, Jacob has experienced first hand what life is like for those that are less fortunate. On the song Everything Changes he asks many questions, pursuing the answers as if we are in the other person's shoes. As in, what if we are in a town that can't go one night without a killing? Or what if we were the ones with nothing to eat, or if we were the ones with blood in our streets, we were the ones with only our screams, and they were the ones watching on TV. Some heady stuff for us to consider, and a path toward the goal of understanding that nothing ever changes…and the selfishness of building the riches without knowledge of the basic human needs of others versus the desires of one's self or ego.
The gift of the present is explored on Slow Down where Jacob sings the refrain, "Oh now, All I have is now….." A reminder to stay in the moment, and keep the eyes on the ball instead of" trying to become who you want and never get away from who you are." All of these tunes have wonderful intros and outros, a delightful polish and build up, coda and conclusion.
As the album winds down, "Be With Me Now" moves into a steppers type of rhythm with lush organs and a somber breakdown of the groove, a swelling build of strings and brass, cymbals crashing, distortion and psychedelia as it dissolves, a very cinematic piece. On When We Were Younger Jacob stays in the pop format, never varying….reminding us that "few of us are born with so much, but most of us are chasing down a dream that we just can't touch. And in his musing and music, he points out that when he was younger, he had all the answers and now that he's older his answers turn in to questions. Jacob asks, "I wonder if love is what we make with our own two hands, I wonder why I write all of these songs? I wonder if you know what I'm saying when you sing along?"
The iTunes edition of the album closes out with several acoustic versions of old SOJA songs, Jah Is Listening Now, She Still Loves Me and Prison Blues are all sung to acoustic guitar, with haunting harmonies and the mournful sound of Jacob's voice, crying out for love.
