Dadawah - Peace and Love

Our selection for The Good Thing 2018

Music that is both cosmic in its spectrum and rooted in the rhythms of the Earth is exceedingly rare, yet that is exactly the union achieved by Ras Michael (Dadawah) on Peace and Love, his seminal 1974 record of ghostly Nyabinghi devotionals. The dominant sounds are heady and psychadelic, hypnotic and mysterious; Dadawah’s voice, always warm, glides across intricate constellations of lush, meditative bass, piano and lead guitar. But the waves of echo that wash over the music suggest that below the surface is something dark and unknown. The groove throughout runs deep, lulling the listener into a concealed, liminal state. Out of this darkness, though, comes Dadawah’s bright and hopeful celebrations of life and love, leading us all back to the path to Zion—back to where we are all supposed to be.

-Sean Turley