On a Friday night in Nairobi, 17 people gathered in the Supersonic Africa studio for a listening party. Beer cans, high stools and laughter. Air was crackling. Bodies pressed into sofas, cross-legged on the carpet and leaning against the red walls. There was a sense of warmth and goodwill in the room; shared camaraderie, no matter what would come pouring out of the speakers.

But UK-based project founders Andy Lemay and Aaron Levitt had made a smart gamble. In just five days their small band of alternative musicians and producers - Faizal Mostrixx and Hibotep from Uganda, Karun and Labdi from Kenya and Lex Amor, Lynda Dawn, Maxwell Owin and K15 from the UK - had brought their best selves to the fore to create music that drew from diverse sonic palettes: funk, neosoul, electronic, hip hop, spoken word, jazz, gqom, R&B. Adding local guest artists Idd Aziz and Xenia Mannaseh to the mix and a technical team led by sound engineer, Sean Peevers, made the resulting music transcendental.

“Aaron and I were keen to facilitate a collaboration across borders and genres but all rooted in soul music,” said Lemay. “Our interpretation of soul straddles many styles and countries so with the artists selected we knew we would love the output, even if we had no idea what genre or tempo it lead to.” The pair labelled the project Extra Soul Perception (ESP.) after American saxophonist Monk Higgins’ 1968 album, as both homage and a nod to the inventiveness they sought to emulate.

Putting together ESP. took nearly two years and required developing a sixth sense not just for best artist pairings but partnerships too. Among the host of supporters were the British Council and Arts Council England. For the British Council’s Sandra Chege, arts manager Kenya for East Africa Arts that provided the nAnA grant to help instigate the project, it was important that ESP. united contemporary sounds in East Africa and the UK.

“Andy and Aaron were clear about wanting to make work happen without being prescriptive yet thinking all the way through to performance opportunities and reaching new audiences,” Chege said. “When I visited the writing camp, everyone was sharing their stories. It felt like there was a generosity taking place as relationships formed. It’s exciting to know that this team will now be developing the collaboration further.”

Another key collaborator was the Analogue Foundation, supported by Audio-Technica. Matsumoto Sohichiro, creative director at Audio-Technica and co-founder of the Analogue Foundation, felt that this project was a way to keep analogue alive and “give it to the future”. The organisation helped power the writing camp by supplying top quality headphones, microphones, turntables and cartridges for the vocal work, DJ sets and recording of traditional instruments such as live percussions and Labdi’s orutu - a one-string lyre that the female singer defies Luo culture to expertly play. Meanwhile Nataal came on board as a creative partner alongside Worldwide FM, Stamp The Wax and Trippin.

The week’s programme was curated to give each combination of artists an opportunity to create as well as unwind, connect and play (in Karun’s case, clocking off with sufficient time to hang out with her son). Communal living in furnished apartments fostered closer bonds, as did catered meals by the affable Patrick and the daily commute to the studio in a hired matatu. The much beloved Peevers and his team were also on hand at the sound desks for artists keen on pulling all-nighters. “Creating good bonds with people is important because then those bonds are expressed in the music,” he said. Although, a night out on the town wasn’t off the menu. And neither was time spent with lensman Dan Medhurst and documentary maker Angela Steps, all under the keen eye of producer, Thandiwe Mbire.

But folks couldn’t afford to completely throw off the pressure to deliver a track at the end of the week. Various coping mechanisms were adopted - long walks, sitting in nature, reviewing older music. Hibotep wasn’t opposed to lighting a thick branch of palo santo to cleanse the air and get the vibe right. “Every person criticises themselves, so we need reminding that that's bullshit and that's what everybody here did,” she said. “On the first day, I was like, what am I going to do? I just make noise music, how am I going to do this? I feel proud coming out of my shell and trying something different.”

Everyone willingly listened to each other’s suggestions. For example, at Faizal’s encouragement, Karun translated a portion of her lyrics and rapped in Swahili for the first time. The resulting pulsing, dubby track ‘In My Soul’ is now the first single to be released from the project. “I felt like I was home. It was very easy, very relaxed, very nice,” said Faizal of the recording experience.

Artists listened to their environs too: “Because we're surrounded by trees so much, I was like yo! When I see nature I feel like a great need to get it on a track,” said Owen. A lover of hybrid sounds, he ended up recording a bird call made by sound engineer and local rapper-producer, Taio.

As the rain fell in great sheets during another session, Amor and Dawn made a song to match it; light like drizzle, dense like heartbreak. The smooth melancholic jam was produced on a Skype session with K15. The producer wasn’t able to travel to Kenya but his dedication to the work was evident in the sound leaping from London to Nairobi in clean, expertly stacked blocks.

K15 also dialled into the listening party and his reviews matched those in the +254 from the rapturous applause to the spontaneous dancing. Once in a while, a song would evoke meditative silence and free flowing tears from the room, such as when Labdi and Idd Aziz tapped into an otherworldliness on a Luo and Swahili song.

Booking out The Alchemist for the last horrah, in partnership with fellow soul enthusiasts Nairobi RnB, the ESP. artists from out of town further acquainted themselves with the local scene. Taio served as the night’s host with Nairobi acts such as Samthadigger, a vinyl-only DJ, blending well with ESP. artists’ live music and DJ sets that oscillated from soulful to explosive. Each artist supported the other on the mic, decks or on the dancefloor; showing off their shiny, public personas and an encyclopedic knowledge of music to keep the crowd moving.

As the curtains fell on a rollercoaster of a week, Lemay and Levitt took a moment to reflect. “My overriding emotion was one of relief: that we’d got through a really ambitious week without any disasters; that we’d managed to create an experience that was enjoyable for all involved; that the music sounded great and was something the artists were proud of; that what we were doing meant something to the people we’d encountered in and outside the project. It was an amazing way to round off the week,” said Levitt.

Following the first single, the ESP. audio visual album will be released in the spring, supported by workshops, talks and a UK tour featuring all eight artists. See you down the front.

‘In My Soul’ by Faizal Mostrixx and Karun is available to buy on Bandcamp now

ESP. and Nataal host a round-table talk at Mama Shelter in London on 20 February

The ESP. tour comes to the Jazz Cafe, London on 22 February, Band on the Wall, Manchester on 23 February and 24 Kitchen St, Liverpool on 24 February. Find more information on Facebook and Instagram

Words Wanjeri Gakuru
Photography Dan Medhurst

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Published on 01/02/2020