'I Hear You': A Review of "Mi Deh Yah" by Clinton Fearon

Everyone should know what they do well. I, for instance, have figured out that one of the things that I do really well, at least in my opinion, is to write about people who have discovered that they, themselves, have a musical talent. I love to do it, obviously, and it’s just my ‘thing’. In particular, what I really enjoy doing is writing about people who don’t get written about very much. Call me afraid of ‘competition’ or what have you, but the fact that there’re x-amount of reviews on this blog which simply have NEVER and will NEVER be covered to any significant degree anywhere else is one of which I am particularly fond. Of course, however, for every review of an album from the Meshachs, Lion Ds and Empress Roberthas of the world, there’s a seemingly (and wonderfully) never ending line of others from the Buju Bantons, Lady Saws and Spragga Benzes and while that certainly is fine - I’m writing them just the same - I do so enjoy being the first (and only) to pierce an album in the literary sense. When that isn’t the case, there does happen to exist this . . . Very unusual type of a project which is certainly not the most well known or popular in almost any respect, but it has so much fanfare surrounding it, particularly on the Internet, that if you are paying attention (and “paying attention” is what I do), you almost cannot avoid at least dealing with it in some cases. In retrospect, I’d place a couple of albums from last year in this category - Ras Zacharri’s ”Herbs Man” and ”2 Sides of My Heart” by Gramps Morgan. Maybe not at the time when I wrote about them (or maybe), but those two albums, the former more curiously than the latter definitely, just gained so much steam in online that I STILL find myself going back and having spins of both when I hear someone mention a particular tune and how impacting or just GOOD they found it to be. What is even nicer, from a completely selfish point of view, is when I think I have a part in creating said “steam” and I definitely did that last year in the case of Lion D and also did this year with Naptali - Yes, I am proud. Sometimes it does take me awhile to really catch on, in spite of this, but I eventually get around to it and now what I’m getting around to, in response to several very well written articles and reviews and more than a few messages from readers and colleagues alike is the brand new album from a Reggae veteran amongst Reggae veterans, Clinton Fearon, ”Mi Deh Yah”.

‘Achis, have you heard that new Clinton Fearon album? What do you think?’ That was a very popular topic of discourse in my email box for a month or two just awhile back as Fearon had dropped the apparently well regarded and very popular brand new album. Fearon, like Ras Midas earlier this year and Pablo Moses and a few others make up a group of artists (coincidentally, all of whom, I THINK, are most popular in the western US these days) (and Fearon even lives there, in Washington) (biggup Adrian Xavier), who are older and active names, but not THE most popular (such as a Burning Spear or a Culture), to whom I simply wished that I paid more attention to. In Fearon’s case, there were his days with The Gladiators which essentially ended before I was born and/or mature enough to REALLY get the messages in his vibes (the man has been making Reggae music for more than FORTY years at this point) and although I certainly paid attention to his subsequent solo efforts, particularly as I’ve gotten older, I just never really went and dug in and LISTENED how I listen to music. Well, given the fact that everyone and everyone’s Grannie wanted to know exactly what I did think this time around (and I don’t know why. I’m still trying to piece together how and why exactly this album got this popular in seemingly as short amount of time that it has, but regardless of why, it’s definitely something to be proud of in terms of the genre as a whole) (my ‘suspicions’ is that Fearon’s fan base is a lot larger than I think it is and it probably has been for quite some time) I thought that, just like with Ras Midas’ ”Fire Up” album from earlier this year, that there was no better time to catch on than now and I definitely made it a point to check out the fittingly titled ”Mi Deh Yah”, no matter how long it took. It ended up taking three or four months or so, but I finally got around to it and what I found most striking is a quality which I’ve certainly noticed in my brief spins of Fearon’s music over the years. What he is able to do, which is quite rare and VERY attractive musically, is to ‘liven’ up the standard Roots Reggae music. The genre itself is one which is often (mistakenly, in my opinion) kind of pigeonholed as being of the very ‘template’ or ‘cookie cutter’ variety, meaning that you’ll find so much of it sounding like itself, but you’d be hard-pressed to listen to this album and come away with the same thought, at least in my opinion. While the album is CLEARLY Roots Reggae of the modern era, but with a decidedly old-school twist (the “twist”, of course, being the artist himself), it sounds so FRESH and NEW, which is something that isn’t a problem or so rare for people like you and I, but is certainly one for the overall appeal of the genre, so hopefully some of those people who think that so much of this wonderful music sounds stale and drawn out have stumbled upon this very nice album. And the album definitely is ‘very nice’. Again, I’m not exactly an expert on Clinton Fearon’s output, but given the initial response this one has gotten and then subsequently listening to it myself, I don’t think that I’m stretching the boundaries of my brain too much by saying that it probably ranks amongst his greatest creations as a solo artist. So, to allllllllllllll of you beautiful people who spent so much time asking me to give this one a listen (biggup Camille) okay - You were right.

The album was produced by the artist, himself, for what is apparently his very own label, Boogie Brown Productions (and it’s also the name of his band), from out of his adopted home of Seattle, Washington in the States and it is distributed by the hard working boys and girls at Makasound/Makafresh in Europe. Getting us up and going on Clinton Fearon’s new presence announcing and affirming album, ”Mi Deh Yah” (even though ‘im “deh yah” from loooooooooooong time), is what is my second favourite tune on the entire album, the delectable ‘Life Is A Journey’. This song is one which is apparently very personal for Fearon, but it’s written in such a ‘broadening’ way, just as the title would indicate, that I’m also thinking that it cold be a tune about the Afrikan Diaspora as a whole. IF IT IS then the song becomes even that much more brilliant (and even more so if it is about both), but regardless, I do so enjoy when a writer leaves something to the listener’s interpretations, but still maintains a course which is what happens on this outstanding opener. The next tune in, ‘Rock And A Hard Place’, speaks to just staying the course and holding firm when facing struggle and resistance to what you want to accomplish. This tune has such a nice vibes to its sound that I’m almost tempted to call it more entertainment than education and, as I alluded to, it doesn’t at all step outside of the ‘normal’ realms of what is considered Roots Reggae, but it is very distinct as well. And finally, from the opening few tunes, is the album’s literal changeup, ‘[Um Lar Longe] De Casa [‘Home Away From Home’]’. This tune was clearly written either during or just in reference to one of Fearon’s trips to Brazil, to which he feels such a great and obvious connection to label it ‘a home away from home’ for him. The tune is probably going to mash up Brazil, but for the rest of us, it’s very nice as well and just like the tune preceding it, it is very dynamic is one of the tune’s here certain to get heads knocking.

Going back to the vibes heard on ”Mi Deh Yah” and how they are conforming and nonconforming to the genre at the same time, some of the album’s most interesting moments occur on such tunes. First I’d direct your attention to something which doesn’t do what I just mentioned, but is arguably the most interesting set on the whole of the album, ‘Focus’. This one is . . . Just a very random, but GORGEOUS instrumental. More and more these days we see artists throwing in dubs of tunes from the album on the album, but this is just a very nice, horn driven and bouncing piece - Just because! And I have absolutely no problem with that. It is really later on in the album when we see more different things begin to happen musically and you can listen to a tune such as ‘Jamaica’, with its very Jazzy intro and the song following it, the ‘funky’ ‘Tell The World’ (which happens to be one of the best written tunes here as well) as examples. And, again, they certainly aren’t large stretches, but THE most elastic of them all just so proved to be my absolute favourite tune on the album, because the intense ‘Feeling Blue’ is absolutely MASSIVE! I can remember listening to the song for the very first time and being so captivated by what I heard and then suddenly this BEAUTIFUL Asian sounding violin kicks in and I got LOST! The vibes on the song are nearly perfect and the tune itself, a call for the masses to get off our asses and do something, is just a winner in every way (oh and had Fearon wanted to include an instrumental of this song, I wouldn’t have complained at all and it almost threatens to be just that as it is the longest tune to be found on the album, by more than half a minute).

“Everyone’s got a heart
And every heart’s got a right to beat
State your claim, know your destiny
Talk is cheap, it’s death without works”

The successes of ”Mi Deh Yah” continue with even the more straight forward material as well. Check the very strong title track which is so EASY that it seems as if Fearon wrote, produced and recorded it while lying in his bed (might also explain the fact that it is frustratingly short as well). The tune is just a nice and inspirational vibes and if you listen to it going straight through, it definitely sets a nice stage for the song which follows it, ‘What A World’. That tune probably has the single most identifiable (SIGNATURE) chorus of the album and the rest of the song brings in this very full and vibrant sound so it has absolutely no troubles becoming one of my favourites. Lyrically, the tune ‘Better Days’ leaves a bit to be desired, but musically it is one of the best songs on the album and I like how, in more than one instance, it’s allowed to ’breathe’ a little, just letting the music take over. What is said on the next tune, ‘The Best’, is far more crucial, albeit on somewhat of an odd cadence, but eventually I started to really enjoy this one as well. ‘Are You Ready’ had no such growing pains with me. For some reason I’m hearing a teeny tiny bit of Everton Blender inflections on this tune, which I LOVE it, of course. The tune, like the opener, is one which lends itself to many different directions in terms of how the listener perceives its actual intent and with my entirely overactive brain, that’s definitely a good thing.

And as ”Mi Deh Yah” winds down we get two more very strong and colourful pieces in ‘John Jones’ and the closer, ‘Working For The Man’. The latter is probably the stronger of the two to my opinion, but both rank near the very top of songs for the album and go to really round out what is my prevailing sentiment from this release - It is just very SOLID. I would have liked to see maybe a combination or two (I think a female’s voice just mixed in somewhere would have done big things), but you can’t really gripe with what Clinton Fearon has done with this ultimately very well-rounded project.

Overall, I have the very rare position on this one of being, basically, a ‘new’ listener to Clinton Fearon’s music and as I always use this segment of the review to recommend or warn off a certain type of listener, I can now say, as someone who has gone through the experience - If this is your first time REALLY listening to Fearon’s music (provided that you have experience in the genre), you’re really going to like it. Like I said, he does things which keeps the elasticity of his sound intact, but it never destroys the typical boundaries of the style, so if you are a fan of the music who just hasn’t made your way to Clinton Fearon, join me in making the first trip at ”Mi Deh Yah” - You can’t really go wrong.

Rated: 4.25/5
Makasound/Makafresh
2010
CD & Digital



Clinton Fearon