Her. I think that history does a pretty good job of doing many things and, as technology advances, it will become even better at covering things that may have otherwise been lost to us and our descendants. The information and, increasingly, visuals that we have access to from years and years ago is amazing and that will only improve. With that being said, however, I think that one of the very few things that is difficult to convey through telling or even showing someone who wasn't around to be able to appreciate it in the moment, is EMOTION. If you watch footage of an old sporting event or a concert or whatever it may be, you may be able to appreciate the excitement and the passion of everyone involved at the time but the DRAMA of the moment is lost on you because you know that the result of what ultimately happened is only a few key strokes away. Try as you might (and you won't), you cannot actually put yourself in that moment (if you do, actually, you are a very strange one). You can enjoy viewing it, but it is gone. Music can be a bit different in that respect; as I'd like to think that the best of it will be around and being heard (and APPLIED) thousands and even millions of years from now. It will continue to go forth and create vibes and feelings within generations of people as, you would think, its creators had in mind while they were working. Its reception, however, or THE PERCEPTION of it during its release is gone and that can't be recreated, regardless of how many longwinded reviews you may come across about a particular piece. I got on to thinking about this because of learning about the new release of someone who I've long considered one of THE most fascinating artists in Reggae music today, Dezarie. MAYBE someone, living hundreds of years from now, could somewhat appreciate the level of reverence experienced by Akae Beka/Midnite during a large portion of his/their career; with the thinking being, perhaps, that such a level of prolificacy would not have been had there not been a rabid and sizable fan base waiting to listen to and support it. I don't think that the same astute individual from the year 2625 would have any chance at all in realizing in just how high esteem Dezarie was held in her day or anywhere near it.
When I first started listening to/hearing about Reggae music from out of the Virgin Islands there were a handful of names that were grabbing the majority of the attention. Of course, at the head was Vaughn Benjamin and Midnite at the time, there was Bambu Station, maybe Ras Army and Dezarie (there was also a healthy group of others that were footsteps away from receiving a big shine such as Pressure Busspipe, NiyoRah and Ras Batch). Surely, the case could be made that the spotlight that was being given to Midnite, at the time, had a kind of gravitational effect in terms of drawing fans to other artists (much in the same way that Bob Marley would have been indirectly responsible for helping to bring several of his peers to prominence), but that would not explain the subsequent and REMAINING levels of respect paid to Dezarie damn near a quarter of a century on.
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| 2014 |
What would help to explain that is consistently producing music of an extremely high level... I think that might work. As is the case with Midnite to Akae Beka, I have encountered some of THE most passionate fans out of anyone in modern Reggae music for Dezarie (she seems to be wildly popular in South America, in particular). Now, when you take the level of adoration the masses have for her and take a look at the size of her body of work - I think I may be of the opinion that the spots of inactivity that Dezarie has experienced through her career have, perhaps, even added to her popularity. While she hasn't been super prolific, Dezaries has DEFINITELY made the most of the opportunities she has had to impress and to continue to carry and BUILD her fanbase. Vaughn Benjamin's way was different: He was far more like some of his Jamaican contemporaries, who were good for three -- and sometimes FOUR -- albums annually, in the not too distant past, but it's now early in the second third of 2025 and Dezarie had not released an album in over a decade; but the drought is over (although there was a Greatest Hits compilation, released just a few years ago)! In 2014, the Cruzan singer set forth the well received "Love In Your Meditation" (that album had a song on it called 'Download De Criminal' which was absolutely ridiculous! It's probably one of the.... 100-150 best song I have EVER heard) and now she is fully back with a brand new album, "Guardian". Though I had, delightfully, found myself more often bumping into her work over the past year or so, the notion that she might have an album in the offering did not pass my mind (which is odd for me). As it would turn out, some of the material was actually singles from what would eventually become "Guardian". The album comes through Dezarie's own label and is produced and everythingelsed by one Kardelle "Mr. Pr3z" President, an incredibly talented young producer from out of the Virgin Islands who, I predict, is about to become very busy as people began laying their ears on his work on "Guardian". Someday, I would LOVE to hear Dezarie work extensively with I Grade Records and the Zion I Kings but I am most certainly not complaining with what is to be heard here. "Guardian" is outstanding and I'd just love to tell you about it if you have a few minutes.... or like an hour.
Dezarie's style, for the most part, can be fairly complex. She does "SING" in the typical usage of the term but she also spends much of her time in an almost hypnotic type of a chant. She's a very talented chanter and while her delivery may not be the most dramatic (although I may challenge that a little later), what you end up with -- in style, alone -- is a very compelling and fascinating artist, beyond this incredibly fascinating figure. That figure carries a heavy hand throughout her new album, which gets going with the tune for which it is named. 'Guardian' is a very elabourate intro and a prayer, setting the table for what is to come. It's also downright gorgeous, hearing Dezarie absolutely lose herself in the track. One of the heaviest hitters, 'Back To the Future', rolls in next and though a semi-electric vibe brings it in, you'll want to pay a closer attention to fully tune in the ideas here. What I took from 'Back To the Future' is that it is a warning of just how easy it can be to lose oneself in the changing of the times and within just how quickly the world is modifying in so many different ways ["Can't wait to get chips installed - in your body, like somebody else in control"]. It's all put together exquisitely, making for, as I said, one of the definitive highlights to be found on "Guardian". 'Criminal' immediately efforts to also put itself amongst the class of the tune ahead of it and it not only succeeds but it also, arguably, goes ahead.
"Attempted murder with intent to kill
Dem food ah want to slow poison
Dem kill more as dem shoot to kill
Vicious, voracious firing
Armed & dangerous shooting
Pointed shot, shooting
Hate pon babylon
Hit and run, genocide and gone
Hate homiciding-
DECIDING TO KILL JOY WITH PAIN
Get out and get practicing
ON INMATES EXPERIMENTING
So...
You got the right to remain silent"
Sometimes the actual criminal isn't the one behind the bars is the heart behind this MASSIVE set as Dezarie sets flames to a most specific brand of oppression. Musically, it should also be mentioned that 'Criminal' soars (it has a very nice feel around it and if you listen to it, you'll know exactly what I mean by that. It isn't just a song playing that you happen to be listening to) and if you wanted to call it the single best song on the whole of "Guardian", you'd get not much of an argument out of me against it at all. BEAUTIFUL song. The familiar 'Breathe In Strength' then comes in and.... PROBLEMS! 'Breathe In Strength' ["breathe out stress"] is downright destructive and it is the single finest moment that I hear on the whole of "Guardian". The tune goes through the matter of de-stressing and de-cluttering the masses from years and years of heinous and unhealthy treatment. She deals with things on both complicated ["Complex and complexity to make man uneasy"] and more simple ["Dem waan exit yuh oxygen from outta existence"] while never veering too far from the centralizing theme of BREATHING and drawing in life while some seek to either interrupt or completely STOP that process, altogether. It is lyrically spot-on throughout and, simply, one of the strongest pieces of music I have ever heard from Dezarie. Wrapping up the first half of the album is another big winner, the LOVELY 'Hold On'. Here, the singer preaches both patience and perseverance (among other things ["You must hold on to your faith, just you holding your phone"]) to stunning results. 'Hold On' is golden! It shines from the second you hear it and by the time you're on to the next tune, it still isn't done with you. Also, though it may go without saying, I do feel compelled to say to pay special attention to what Dezarie says there as she stands up with some GEMS of information and ideas that are the genuine star of this show.
...speaking of things that shine; the second half of "Guardian" is brimming with them as well as, ridiculously, you could probably make a strong argument that it is even stronger than the first. In full, I'll also say that the vibes of the latter half of the album CLEARLY set out to provide a bit more in the way of a BITE and some FIRE, so if you thought she'd let you out of the door this time without slapping you around slightly, you were woefully mistaken (she's not sending you on your way with bruises and cuts, just a bit extra on the brain to think about the next time you cross her path). I'll skip ahead to the final two selections which do reverse course back to more of the moods from the early stages of "Guardian" and do so excellently, 'Snake Charmer' & 'Who Is Who'. The latter is VERY interesting when you contrast what you immediately hear with what is actually said. Everything is very light and were someone not paying a great deal of attention and they were to come away thinking that 'Who Is Who', on its surface alone, was a love song, you couldn't blame them for it, BUT IT MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT. The track is actually quite challenging and, lyrically, even bordering on harsh at times ["Haters and traitors and instigators"] as Dezarie says that not everyone is who they appear to be. Not too dissimiliarly routed is 'Snake Charmer' which comes through with this damn near DIVINE bounce of a riddim, which Dezarie pushes to its full capacity. Although this one does have more light elements to its sound -- and maybe it's just me -- but there is something very strict about 'Snake Charmer' and in finding my way around has been one of the most rewarding experiences that I've had in listening to this album.
On the other side of that are the three other songs that comprise the second lot of selections on "Guardian" which, as I said, definitely add some petrol to things. Check the first of them, the MAMMOTH 'Immortal Combat'.
"War 'gainst the woman melanin
Fight 'gainst fertility with sterilization
They bring drugs in the hood to bring down population
Guns in the hood to bring down population
Planned Parenthood to bring down population
Poison the food to bring down population
FREQUENCY TO CONTROL YOUR MOOD with dem babylon song
Men in prison to bring down population
Medical apartheid bring down population
MAKING MONEY DOING SO, AND GETTING DONATION
How much dem waan earn?
Several million
Plan already set in motion
GENETIC WEAPONRY FIGHTING GENEOLOGY
Like they want your penny and gone to pay a penalty
LOOK HOW DEM SCAM DI COLOUR OF SKIN OPENLY
Wi caan tek di energy, dem got no lobby
How wi looked and wi searched
THEY WERE EMPTY
PLOTTING TO SHORTEN OTHERS LIFE TO MAKE THEIRS LENGTHY
And want to try life first to try extend theirs
One thing for certain: DNA cannibal hungry
Spiritual war like Battleship Galactica
No afflection from none of the earth's afflictors"
The song is an older one that I've heard her perform in live settings once or twice so, as I was listening to it, it started to come back to me that I knew this tune from somewhere but this is almost certainly the first time that I've heard a studio version of 'Immortal Combat' and DAMN! Brilliantly put together as Dezarie drops several things (namely films) from popular culture ["Spiritual war like it is The Clash of Titans; as if dem waan mek di world a big boxing ring"] to make her point about this never ending war (people, literally, fighting over EVERYTHING) that we have been fighting and will likely continue to fight. I could happily sit here and keep talking about 'Immortal Combat' for hours but I think you'd also enjoy hearing about previous single 'Lion Is Lion' and its destructive chorus. It takes a second (more like around twenty), but when this thing really gets going, 'Lion Is Lion' is MASSIVE!
At its core is a huge sense of PRIDE instilled in the masses from all walks of life to the point where, should you NOT feel something from this tune, you're either living a REALLY FUCKED UP life or, I regret to inform you that you are actually deceased. Lastly is another one which is going to slap you around a little if you are not prepared, 'No Failure' (even if you are prepared, you might still catch a few).
"Who think wi soft and wi quiet make a mistake
When wi deh pon di battlefield, a kinda risk take
All who nuh down with depression, make a fist, make
Ganja is our vaccination weh wi inject
Judgment come snip-snip
Duppy dem get wings clipped
Devil is a liar, so wi bun a fyah quick-quick
Expect wi to sit with zipped lip
In injustice sit with-
On submission's guestlist
It's freedom and wi wish this!"
'No Failure' is another track that is trying to get you to get your pride together and, in this case with the words ESPECIALLY, you are certain to find something that brings something out of you if you are.... at least a halfway decent person.
I do want to go back and elabourate just a second on something that I mentioned earlier in regards to Dezarie's style. While she will never been confused with being THE most expressive of vocalists, I don't want to make it seem as if her music is devoid of bereft of drama or a very basic level of entertainment because it is not. Dezarie's method of conveying that isn't through yelling or pushing her vocals a great deal (though she does have her moments); instead, what she does is to seemingly enter a very comforting place where it almost comes off as if she's in a trance. She's either sang these words SO often or they mean SO much to her that delivering them is almost instinctive. I find joy in that and CLEARLY I am not alone.
Overall, though "Guardian" may not be the heaviest piece of music that we've encountered, coming in at just shy of forty minutes in total, it more than makes the most of its time. Like pretty much everything she does these days, I would expect the VAST majority of people who come into contact with this set to not only be more established fans of Reggae music, in general, I would think most of them are already going to be familiar with Dezarie's work. HOWEVER, if for some reason you are not either one (though I'm going to have a hard time completely believing that you aren't at least a fan of Reggae music to get this far into a review this long), "Guardian" is EXTREMELY digestible in my opinion. I think there is enough here for newer fans of both the music and Dezarie's to enjoy and, hopefully, open the door to the rest of her beautiful catalogue. It stands in line with everything that she has done to date and, with a legend as grounded as her's as, Dezarie digs her roots even deeper with another gem of an album... but you knew that already. OUTSTANDING.
Rated: 5/5
Dezarie
2025
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