Kenya: Nina Ogot releases fourth album Ukumbu.KE

The nine-track project, out via Hey!blau Records, once again captures Ogot’s essence as a performer. The compositions, recorded live with her band, feature sparkling guitars, groovy percussion and jolly horns, all united in perfect harmony by the singer’s enrapturing vocals.

All the songs on Ukumbu.KE were composed by the singer and revisit her memories – her personalised cultural moments. Images from her childhood and parts of her adulthood are brought back to life to show how the past shapes the present, with the cover art depicting the singer as a cartoon character travelling back into her past.

The artist reinforces her cultural roots, referencing traditional Kenyan music such as taarab and bango melodies from Kenya’s Coast region, as well as the percussive isukuti of the Luhya and the spiritual dodo rhythms of the Luo from the western parts of the country.

The album title is a play on Swahili words, transferring ukumbu (memories) into a new context using the form ukumbuke (remember), but stylised as Ukumbu.KE, with ‘.KE’ at the end like a Kenyan website domain.

“This doesn’t mean the music is stuck in a nostalgic past,” she said. “While memories tend to work like a binary image that turns reality into a static black and white scene, this sound revives its roots to create a colourful and very present experience.”

The new album includes a remake of the single ‘Chokoraa’ taken from her 2008 debut album, Ninairobi. The track addressing the plight of street children has grown from laid-back guitar acoustics to a dramatic musical call-to-action performance by her eight-piece band.

Arrangement-wise, the singer has chosen a less experimental and more resolute style, compared to the previous albums. While Ogot worked with mostly European musicians on her previous collection Dala, her decision to record Ukumbu.KE in her hometown Nairobi, to capture the authentic Kenyan vibe, is a sound one. Nevertheless, the horn section, arranged and recorded in Germany, gives the album a distinct international feel.

Ogot is set to announce dates for a series of live performances in Europe this July to promote the new project.