Soom T ADD

Review

Album Review: Soom T - Good

04/07/2022

by Gardy Stein

The return of the Raggamuffin Queen! After her album Victory, released just before Christmas last year, revealed an entirely different side of the Scottish artist, Soom T is back in Reggae waters for Good. This new album is "the result of ten years of writing, composition and production", as the press release informs us, and boasts no less than 16 tracks of refreshing creativity and variance.  
Coming to us via her own label Renegade Masters, Soom T has worked with different producers and, most importantly, with her band The Stone Monks who will also accompany her on the upcoming tour. Under the capable direction of Xavier Waks (also signing responsible for the final mix of the album), they recorded songs such as the wonderfully uptempo World We Live In, definitely one of my favorites, the rather laid-back Get The Fruit (woooi the bass in this one!) and the penultimate One More Tune. The musicians create a deeply organic sound vividly exemplified in Our Day, enriched with fine brass and some wicked Soundsystem sirens, and I Wanna Live, both of which the MC graces with her rarely heard singing voice. Another brilliant example of this fruitful collaboration is Bring Them Down, an emotional piece about people who use their position of power the wrong way, carried by a beautiful guitar riff.  

Her trademark sound of digital Reggae is assured by French producer Kiko, who contributed the lion's share of tracks. With comfort and ease, Soom T rides his riddims right from the start, as in the pumping Big Bad World, in which she describes the feeling of being trapped "in a cage like a bird" sometimes, and in the affirmative Yes My People (which was the first single release, by the way). The singer picks up the chain metaphor once more in Born Free, an electric guitar explosion that is more Rock than Reggae, while Your Time is a little runaway genre-wise.

Both My Struggle and My Shelter tell a personal story, speaking of obstacles overcome and support received, and especially the latter showcases Kiko's talent of finding points of reference in both modern and traditional Reggae sounds.  

Broadening the overall soundscape of the album, Alex Dupuis (Flash Hit Records) toys with elements of Jazz and Swing in One Real Friend, a musical invitation Soom T gladly accepts, surprising us with a multifaceted delivery – hushed voice, dirty notes and all.  

Further diversity is thrown in by London Dub legend Daniele Gaudi who spices up things with the Dancehall-inspired Don't Stand For Dis, a track that sees the Raggamuffin Queen in full effect. Kaboom! "Rasta, put up your fist, show that the movement of Rasta exists, stand up for the truth and resist…" – another instant favorite. Gaudi even builds a sonic bridge to Soom T's Indian roots, incorporating traditional instruments into the exciting riddim. He does the same with the calmer but none less energetic Steps which closes the album, playing with echoes and reverb and some old-school Studio One style harmonies. Oooh yeah!

Lyrically, Soom T touches uncomfortable subjects like the restriction of personal freedom or the bad state of the world in general, but also sings of hope and trust and forgiveness, as in the groovy Amazing Graces. And in one way or other, every song breathes her deep faith and connects her music to the spiritual realm.

Wrapped in a powerful cover of French street artist Nikita, Good is all its name implies. Soom T must have spent the last three years in studio, or else her enormous output is hard to explain. I mean, a full album every year since 2020 is no easy feat, and high-quality stuff at that… chapeau, team Soom T!

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