Album Review: Ghostpoet, Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam

Album cover for Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam. Photo / Supplied

Sauntering sleepily straight out of London, via Coventry, and with roots in Nigeria and Dominica, comes 24-year-old MC Ghostpoet (real name Obara Ejimiwe). Signed to British taste-maker Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings label, this album is an understated and powerful beauty.

With his deep, loping, vocal style, the comparisons with Roots Manuva are obvious. However, while he's not as lyrically funny as Mr Rodney Smith, the songs are more listenable and inviting.

The beats are free-flowing and effortless, whether they are out of kilter (like on the lippy and cocky Finished I Ain't), or more clinical and lashing on the likes of the catchy I Just Don't Know, which has a dark, yet zany 80s synth beamed through it.

His debut single Cash & Carry Me Home throbs and agitates with hints of an eerie techno beat, but album highlight is Survive It, a stunning piece of delicate hip-hop soul.

It's obvious this guy has diverse musical influences that stretch from Badly Drawn Boy's The Hour of the Bewilderbeast (apparently the first album he ever bought), through to the dingy British grime scene, and the opening intro One Twos also reveals his love of the more fractured sonics of Squarepusher and Autechre.

The album just gets better and better as you become more accustomed to his lackadaisical lilt and could well be a near classic by the end of the year.

Stars: 4.5/5
Verdict: More than just the new Roots Manuva
Buy Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam


- TimeOut