Efya's 'Janesis' is an emotional journey through love

Artiste – Efya

Duration: 82 minutes

It’s been a long time coming for one of Ghana’s brightest stars. Efya, the songbird, songstress, and sultry singer has been on this project for what feels like forever. The singer first dropped hints of this work four years ago, before turning around with a wonderful mixtape, “T.I.N.T” her second body of work. The first was a collaborative album released in faraway South Africa when she was still called Jane. Many years has gone by with 2012 becoming 2013 down to 2016.

But we have an album.

An emotion-laden 21-track work, the album shows the Afro-Soul strength of the singer, with pop influences scattered all through. Efya, a detailed songwriter is all about love. From the soul-chilling lyrics of the eerie ‘Can I’, Efya hits her highest pitch yet, as she makes the music bigger than herself, as she offers soothing healing which relates to her cries for peace on ‘One of your own’ featuring Bisa Kdei. She continues on this empowering music with the haunting ‘Life’, and the buzzing EDM heavy Álive’.

The love and goodwill become personal on the subject of romantic love which drives the energy of this album. The love comes from various parts of her, as she samples her fears on ‘Sometimes’ and ‘Jorley’. Others bring on the warmth and dizziness of true love. You can find elation in ‘Heartbeat’, and engagement in ‘R.U.D.1’.

Dance is also a sub-theme of the album, ‘Hele mi’ has the irresistible dancehall supplied by Stonebwoy, and almost every song has the infusion of rhythm to inspire both movement and rhythm. For an album which sought to evoke immersive feelings, there isn’t a lot of dance in supply.

A songwriter’s album, lyricism on “Janesis” is faultless, although it can feel a bit overwhelming with nothing left for the leisure side. Every moment requires cerebral movement to comprehend, engage and react. Production on it rolls through different qualities, with overcomplication being at one end, while the other tapers off as basic.

Efya still remains Ghana’s most marketable female act, with the potential to cross over seamlessly. Her music is bigger than her industry, and if harnessed and pointed at the right direction, would explode into glitzy, fantastical pieces of commercial art. “Janesis” puts this potential on a showcase.

Ratings 3.5/5

Ratings

1-Dull

2-Boring

2.5-Average

3-Worth Checking Out

3.5-Hot

4-Smoking Hot

4.5-Amazing

5-Perfection