EP review: Celestine Donkor’s Testimony Therapy

15 Feb 2022 - 18:13

Gratitude is at the heart of Ghanaian gospel singer Celestine Donkor’s latest collection – the seven-track Testimony Therapy EP. The offering, entirely composed of lush sounds and riveting messaging, proffers that taking stock is how we grow.

Celestine Donkor.

Active since 2007, the award-winning Donkor, a seasoned and assured figure in Ghana’s music circles, boasts an ethereal voice over six full-length albums. Over the years, her releases have summoned staying power and mobilised a devoted following.

Testimony Therapy, which distils Donkor’s essence as an inherently poignant performer, also reaffirms the gospel genre’s value as a rich avenue for live performance and a preserver of traditional sounds. She may have surrendered to the EP culture that has attended the Boomplay era (the project was released exclusively on the platform), but her rootedness in indigenous rhythms and songs that exceed the three-minute mark has remained intact.

‘Testimony’, the collection’s opener, is a sort-of continuance of her previously released single ‘Agbebolo’. Related in multiple languages and ferried by placid strings and melodies, ‘Testimony’ is an immersive account of its creator’s spiritually favoured life. The deep dive continues with ‘Praise Him’, which Donkor says emerged out of joy for victories and testimonies, and ‘You Are Worthy’, ensuring an alignment with the overarching theme.

While gospel music from these parts typically arrives in customary rhythms starting with ballads, Testimony Therapy also manages to pack in poppier persuasions (see ‘It Is God’). The EP ends as it begins, with a MOG-assisted revivification of ‘Testimony’.

Testimony Therapy enjoys a number of high points: it is impressively curated, boasts superior production quality, and, because it is packed with pan-African collaborations, offers a cross-cultural outlook that will accomplish an international mission. Donkor is onto something good.