Mikey General ADD

Review

Album Review: Mikey General - Hold A Heights

07/25/2022

by Gardy Stein

The chemist has been brewing again! In his Reality Shock laboratory, UK-based producer Kris Kemist mixed together the riddims for another exceptional release called Hold A Heights. Not digitally, this time, but strictly Roots! With Mikey General, a veteran Reggae singer of international renown brings the necessary vocal ingredient to the melange, and – voilà! – this fine, conscious summer delicacy is ready for consumption!

Released under Qabalah First Music, the label that Mikey founded in cooperation with his colleague and friend Luciano, the eleven tracks included are all novel material. Starting with the title track Hold A Heights, the General's clear, tenor voice takes you on a spiritual journey, reasoning about inward focus, meditation, Integrity ("Doing the right thing when no one is watching, that's integrits…") and Loyalty ("Loyality is such a rarity, you can't even get it from your family…").

The singer's devotion to faith and divine guidance finds expression in titles like Praise HIM and Call Jah Name, the latter including the Kingston guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith. Other instrumentalists contributing to the album are Patrick Williamson (bass & guitar), Andreas Millns (piano), Booom Hornz & Ray Carless (brass) and Horseman (drums), among others, but it's Kris Kemist who created the biggest part of the music. Chapeau to backing singer Indra Rudder, who sweetens up most of the tunes with her on-point harmonies!

Special mention also deserves the love section with tracks like Love, out and kicking since April, and Get It Off Your Chest, a tender declaration of support for your partner. Can't Leave It Alone and Nah Stop Sing are very personal accounts about Mikey's handling of the holy herb and his career in music, respectively, and we learn a lot about his life and attitudes.

While the vocal delivery of the singer is rather homogenous across the release, two features prevent the experience from becoming too monotone. The first one, Revolution, is a collaboration with Everald Creary aka No-Maddz, and together they ask, "who is gonna stand up for the people, who is gonna tell them the truth"? The second feature (and the song closing the release), is a calm Nyabinghi piece called Look Within, on which upcoming artist Yared is heard.

As its name suggests, Hold A Heights is not made for parties and celebration, but for contemplation and reflection. The smooth mix makes it suitable for both headphones and speakers, so that you can enjoy it everywhere – at home or in nature, in sunshine or rain, alone or with friends, or, as Emerson Hypolite so vividly depicts on the cover artwork, sitting on a mountaintop. Nice one!

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