Healing Of All Nations

This album is something of a reggae dream team project: Yami Bolo singing over vintage backing tracks by the Roots Radics, with production and dub mixes by Linval Thompson. The results are just as good as they should be: Bolo is in fine voice as always, his sharp tenor and melismatic delivery continuing to reflect the influence of Michael Rose without imitating him too completely; the Roots Radics’ rhythms are heavy and implacable, nicely reflecting the dread imagery and religious pleading of Bolo’s lyrics; Thompson’s vocal mixes are creative but thoughtfully structured. Highlights include the dub version of the otherwise fairly pedestrian “We Need Love,” an impressive generational lament entitled “Trigga Happy Kid,” and a heartfelt sufferer’s anthem called “Mystery Babylon.” There’s nothing here to change the face of reggae, but Healing of All Nations” is about as impressive a document of the modern roots sound as there has been in a few years. – Rick Anderson