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CD
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EB 072CD
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This is the second album by top Italian reggae group, Smoke. Routes charts its own course in reggae music and keeps its distance from passing trends (i.e. dancehall, reggaeton). Smoke's style is reminiscent of an epoch in which digital instrumentation didn't reign -- the singing is raw and melodic (harkening to early Horace Andy) and the lyrics are a result of long-standing ideas. Songs such as "To Them" (a condemnation of the Apartheid system in South Africa), "Ken Saro Wiwa" (the story of a man killed by the Nigerian military regime for having fought against the environmental devastation caused by Shell Oil), "Ironman Wang" (a reflection upon the effects of the Maoist regime through the journey of a young Chinese worker) and "Save All The Kids" (a hymn for the protection of children's rights inspired by Ishmael Beah's book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier) have the precise purpose of focusing the listener's attention on issues that afflict the planet and that the media tend to ignore. Other songs like "Let There Be Light," "The Great Wanderer," "Every Thing You Are," "Island," and "If" express the common desire for universal harmony. Routes is a stunning and complete work, a circle that encompasses the artistic and spiritual maturity of Smoke. An exquisite and splendid blend of modern roots reggae with a heavy soul vibe, destined to become one of those unifying albums which everyone plays to death.
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