Nataal debuts three films on the Osusu music project connecting Sierra Leone, Iceland, UK and Ireland

 

One year on from the release of the Osusu album, a musical collaboration between artists from Sierra Leone, Iceland, UK and Ireland, Nataal shares a three-part documentary series that follows the project from inception to fruition.

For artists from the African diaspora the journey was linked to a sense of heritage and return, while for many of the European participants, this was the first time in West Africa. Regardless of background, the experience was nourishing for everyone. Arnòljotur, an Icelandic producer and instrumentalist, recalls: “I got back home and recognised the importance of many things in our social system which Freetown could benefit from, just as much as I saw how much I felt my fellow Icelanders could learn from going to this part of Africa.”

Language and cultural differences were no barrier to the creative flow with the group writing and producing over 20 songs in just three days. Irish-Sierra Leonean singer Loah says: “It was pretty astounding how well, how fruitfully and how productively we were all able to work together”. Nigerian-Sierra Leonean drummer Emmanuel agrees: “I found out that everybody who took part of the project understood one language, which is the music.”

The film series begins by Balan Evans documenting the experience of the artists as they came together for the first time to meet and exchange ideas in 2018. A poetic ode to the beauty of Sierra Leone, this film depicts how the experience for many was marked by a sense of poetic togetherness. Icelandic artist Cell7 reflects: “Even though we didn’t always understand each other, we were always in agreement and celebrated the music we made together. My music has benefitted from this process and continues to be inspired by the creative spirit of the Osusu project.”

The second film, shot by Edward Massey, was created six months later when the musicians met once more in Sierra Leone to perform Osusu at the Freetown Music Festival, an annual celebration of Sierra Leonean art and culture. The chance to perform locally demonstrated the “explosion and diversity of the scene”, says Loah, who adds that “music can really make the world feel like a little village.” The group also got the chance to further explore and make music. Icelandic-Angolan singer Logi Pedro, whose first trip to Africa was for the Osusu project, just released an album he started making in Freetown and has been working on since. Icelandic artist Hildur was surprised by the upbeat interpretation of a sad lyric she wrote, saying: “I noticed that people in Sierra Leone move way more to music than we do in Iceland so I saw how that affected the artists. They want to make music that people want to dance to.”

The final film in the series, by Santiago Morales, follows the group meeting for the release of the Osusu album in September 2019 in London and Hull. With a focus on the journey of the Sierra Leonean artists to the UK, this film comments on how profound the experience was for them. To see their music recognised and enjoyed on stages and in radio stations across the UK capital was validating, and completed the circle of this West African-European exchange. Sierra Leonean artist Drizilik felt a sense of empowerment from meeting and working with international artists: “In today's industry where creatives are pressured to stick to a certain style of music based on ethnicity, I learnt how to diversify my style and approach to making records.”

And so the journey of Osusu is complete. Combining a myriad of voices, beats, instruments and rhythms, what this compilation really demonstrates is music’s universal ability to traverse social, cultural and logistical diversity and ultimately unite people. As Icelandic instrumentalist Samúel Jòn Samúelsson simply surmises: “I became a better person. And now I have new friends.”

Osusu Volume 1 is out now. Find it here.

Read our 2019 feature on Osusu here.