Album Review: Sinkane — consequenceofsound.net

Ahmed Gallab’s versatility makes a lot of sense given the diversity of his youth. The Sinkane singer and multi-instrumentalist was born in London, lived in Sudan until he was five, and then crossed the Atlantic only to move from Boston to Utah and onto Ohio; he now lives in Brooklyn. Accordingly, his musical pedigree includes genres as different as hardcore punk, Krautrock, Pharoah Sanders-inspired spiritual jazz, and the soul-funk-etcetera hybrid he’s perfecting now. In a way, though, Mean Love is his first collection of songs, 10 sleek tracks that venture from supremely danceable R&B to Sudanese pop. It’s actually his third album under the Sinkane name, but where 2009’s self-titled and 2012’s Mars sprawled with lengthy songs, Mean Love is all about precision, be it in the form of a buttery vocal hook, an elastic bass line courtesy of Ish Montgomery, or a poignant lyric co-written with Greg Lofaro. In other words, it feels like this journeyman has finally arrived.

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