I have great respect and enthusiasm for the music of Femi Kuti, and he and his band have definitely earned the name ‘The Positive Force’, for much more than the joyous and uplifting experiences I connect with their records and the live performances I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy. Femi and his family (including his father, the legendary Fela Kuti) and the musicians they have worked with over decades have poured their lives into informing, educating and spreading messages of love, peace and self-improvement to audiences across the world, from their home in Nigeria.
Femi Kuti’s latest release, a revisiting of several of his songs from the 1990’s, is not billed as a “greatest hits” but nor should it be seen as simply a random collection of re-hashed old material – it’s clear that it’s been curated, chosen and arranged and updated carefully and with vision.
The vision is encapsulated neatly in the title, but the philosophical, introspective message of personal self-improvement that epitomises the title track Journey Through Life is not always reflected in the rest of the album, which is mostly fiercely political and often angry, but there’s typically rousing calls to action including ‘We must all come together to change the system’ from the most recent single, Oga Doctor.
Journey Through Life is less accessible than I am accustomed to from Femi Kuti – more challenging lyrically, more personal, more visceral and more emotional; it’s also more musically connected to a real rage and disillusionment which I’ve often seen reflected in his words but rarely in his music.
There is a rawness and a power here, as well as a level of musicality which is both jazzier and more syncopated and also less immediately accessible than previous recent releases. There is some fantastic sax playing and some great grooves but on the whole, these songs are angrier, more direct and intense and don’t have as much of the swing, swagger and uplifting vibe that marks a lot of his later output. That said, it’s a slow-burn album and I find many of the songs stuck in my head after only a dozen or so listens.
The album was recorded at the Legacy Plus studio in Nigeria, founded by the Kuti family, and produced by Femi Kuti himself. The production might leave a little to be desired, sounding more like a live record than one with studio polish, but that takes nothing from the musicianship, the performance and the quality of the recording. Journey Through Life really lends itself to hi-fi listening but misses the saturated mastering (or audience sounds) that might bring a little more life to the record.
There are other small elements I could quibble with in the mixing and production – the drums overloading the bass register at times and the prominence of the organ on Corruption na Stealing, or the sync on the horn playing on Oga Doctor…
But we’re treated to musicality, songwriting and performance on a level few bands can match, and challenged to look at ourselves and confront political, social and moral questions, as well as to engage with the tragedy, concerns and regrets of the Kuti family and recent Nigerian history, conveyed in the most powerful and personal terms – as well as being encouraged to find satisfaction with our own journey through life.
Nothing is hidden and Femi Kuti speaks, as he always has done, without fear and with admirable honesty and directness. Overall, it’s intense, uncomfortable and unrelenting – but isn’t this exactly what you would expect from a journey through life?
Femi Kuti: Journey Through Life – Out 25 April 2025 (Partisan Records)
I've been playing bass guitar and guitar for over half my life. I last played bass in in a band called Electromotive and as a singer-songwriter I have written songs about cheese and vajazzles (separate songs!). I started out listening to 60s, 70s and 80s rock as a kid and I was in to grunge and U.S. punk and ska in the 90s. Since then, I've broadened my tastes and I like the best of all styles of music, even country. I've been writing for Silent Radio since it started.
