John Wizards

Opener 'Tet Lek Schrempf' starts things off with a gentle waltz before crashing in with a flighty mix of conch shell, handclaps and pitched-up guitar riffing. Next up 'Lusaka by Night' charms you with its catchy highlife riffs and spacious pools of electronics, while the group's singer Emmanuel Nzaramba auto-tuned voice flutters atop the mix. 'Limpop' is a tribute to Shangaan Electro, in which skittering drum machines and synth bass dissolves into the lush funk of 'Muizenberg', all highlife guitars and muscular riffy bass, breaking down into John's soft falsetto and piano. 'iYongwe' is based around joyful, lovable deconstructed 80's funk-pop chords, while 'Finally' breaks out from a ambient haze, into the choppy, detailed techno-like dub and rolling guitar riff of 'Jet Up'. 'Maria' is sung by Emmanuel in Kinyarwanda, a heartfelt love song to the girl of the title, with a happy recorder melody.

On side 2 'Jabu Ley' is a richly constructed ballad, with a touch of 80's pop and nostalgic melody, while 'Jamieo' opens in bombastic R&B mode, rich with Rhodes chords, rhythm guitar and brass, but its seriousness is undermined by the parping bassline and daft lyrics. 'LEUK', slows things down to a shape-shifting mix of R&B and pulsing post rock repetition. Twisting once again, 'Durvs' is essentially a house track with its highlife guitar sounding like it's routed through early British techno. 'I'm Still A Serious Guy' tells the story of how the song almost didn't come about, while 'Lushoto' opens with thumb piano and guitar, breaking into John's vocals and a galloping melody. The album finishes on the gentle 'Friend' making a nod to Mali's meditative music, with harp-like guitar and Emmanuel's voice fed through a delicate dubby treatment, dropping an extremely satisfied listener off at the end of the album.