Search - Paul St Hilaire :: Divine State of Mind

BLACK SMOKER

Locks Lion | Blue Mountain Peak | 02/01/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"ADSOM (A DIVINE STATE OF MIND): Hailing from the beautiful island of Dominica right here in the Caribbean, Paul St. Hilaire (formerly recording as Tikiman) has for the most part made his name further afield, working with European producers like Rhythm & Sound in Berlin (a.k.a. Basic Channel; also the team responsible for all those great Wackie's reissues), and "nu-dub" pioneers, Richard Dorfmeister and Peter Kruder in Vienna. His mellow, made-for-reggae singing voice always brings to mind the legendary Horace Andy, but with a sprinkling of Cocoa Tea for extra sweetness. ADSOM seems to be a self-produced collection, but the influence of some of his former collaborators is definitely noted. While St. Hilaire is clearly working from a roots reggae blueprint, the electronic flourishes, vocal treatments and other tweaks are straight from the nu-dub school, by way of original innovators like Tubby's and Errol Thompson, and especially Lee Scratch Perry's extra-terrestrially augmented Black Ark sound.



Opener, LITTLE SONG sounds as though it might have bubbled up from a deep ocean vent - a black smoker, as they call them - with St. Hilaire's vocal ("Check some dub style...") curling through the mix like smoke through water. PECULIAR is rather appropriately titled, but again, another great production, and is followed by the somewhat more straightforward roots sounds of PRAISE and JAH WON'T LET US DOWN, both of which are excellent selections. CLOCK A TICK, OFFICE and the menacing HUMBLE dive right back into the deep-sea dub adventure, shining a light into some uncharted waters. JAH LOVE is another standout along the same lines as LITTLE SONG, while the beautiful BLACK MOSES, FORTUNATE with its kiddy-chorus backup, and JAH LIVE OVER THE HILLS are all first-rate roots numbers, each showcasing St. Hilaire's voice to excellent effect. Finally, the meditative ROOSTY opens the shutters onto a truly divine sunrise.



I'm definitely recommending ADSOM to all reggae listeners - this is reggae for the late night hours, by turns weird and wonderful, and good for the headphones too.

"