For a longtime despite the fact that he is an award winning musician who requires little introduction, Juls has been the unsung custodian of the Ghanaian indigenous palm wine music. Over the years, the Ghanaian’s penchant to delve into sounds that most refrain from has positioned him as one of the continent’s finest musical minds.
Objectively opined, only a handful of music producers have been able to finesse contemporary highlife music the way Juls has- I just felt like clearing the air on that.
Juls is a savant at experimenting with musical elements across varied genres ranging from Bossa Nova, Calypso, Highlife, Dancehall, Afro-house, soul, jazz, amongst others.
Once again, the serial virtuoso joyfully experiments by bringing traditional and digital musical instruments to life in his recent potpourri of rhythmic and philosophic brilliance, ‘Peace and Love’. Juls’ latest album feels like a near hourly long tour guide that stratospheres across the many diverse cultures of the World.
It is a cross continental body of work that is suited to reflect Juls’ cashmere lifestyle whilst embodying the paradox of his laid back approach of making culturally flexible fusions.
Juls is in his mid-thirties and he is very successful. Hence, It’s safe to say that he has spent his twenties unwinding, exploring the nitty gritties of youthful exhuberance and has lost the flair for it.
Now, at the peak of his life where family, work and love are his top priorities, his music reflects matured themes than they ever did before. At this stage of Juls’ life, gratitude is ingrained.
Juls’ Peace and Love is one of the year’s most explorative musical albums, if not the very most explorative one.
The first track, ‘Leap of Faith’ is a philosophical requiem that features British rapper, Wretch 32. The rapper spares no detail in his invigorating rhyme and poetry scheme that explores loss, grief, faith, and triumph. Towards the song’s climax, we hear an ecstatic little voice whose gibberish words mimic the guitar picking fade. One can only assume it’s the voice of Juls’ child, which makes the moment a beautiful one.
Ultimately, spinning through the eighteen track album that features various artists from the World, Juls reaffirms the beauty in sonic diversity and how music that ventures outside the conformed norms can sound.
Juls celebrates music as a gift from a higher source through the conscientious fusion of it, making known the endless possibilities that abound when daring creators step out of the box that confines their musical creativity. The Ghanaian artist creates an appeasing ode to life, a 10/10 album in this writer’s books.
