The Lijadu Sisters – Sunshine

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The Lijadu Sisters – “Reincarnation”
Sunshine

Reissued a couple of months ago, the Lijadu Sister’s Sunshine is still in the African Music Top Ten. We’ve already featured Danger and Mother Africa, so let’s take a look at the third of the four Afrodesia albums Knitting Factory Records have decided to re-release on LP/CD/Lossless. Originally released in 1978, Sunshine takes a different approach than its predecessors. While Danger revealed a deadly mix of funk and rock and Mother Africa made strong use of traditional drums and percussion, Sunshine showcases the Nigerian twin sisters’ incredible harmonies in English. This album is the first of the Lijadu Sisters’ to add a healthy dose of synthesizers to the mix.

The lyrics on Sunshine focus on love and family, matters close to the heart. Master musician Biddy Wright performs his magic as co-arranger on the album, adding sweet guitar and keyboards to the record. His instrumental boogies are the perfect setting for Kehinde and Taiwo to sing over. The sounds on Sunshine jump from rock to disco to pop to reggae, as heard on “Reincarnation,” featured above. The uptempo “Promise” and the slower “Set Me Free” demonstrate that the path to true love is not always an easy one. Perhaps one of the most standout tracks is “Turbulent Water,” which is a sentimental tribute to the sisters’ mother.

“Our mother had such terrible times in her life. But she was staunch. She never gave up. If you meet turbulent waters, you must be staunch like her, and not change your ultimate destination.” – Kehinde

Make sure you grab your copy of Sunshine from Knitting Factory Records or your local record store to get ready for the final Lijadu Sisters reissue of the summer, Horizon Unlimited, which comes out on August 14th.

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