A Trip to Bolgatanga is the first album in 12 years from formerly prolific dub collective African Head Charge. Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah, the veteran band’s leader, has relocated to Bolgatanga, a Ghanaian town famed for its craftwork. Inspired by his new surroundings, the vocalist-percussionist has completed 10 new songs in collaboration with On-U production legend Adrian Sherwood.
It’s mostly unexceptional, compared with the band’s glory days of the 1980s, although Noah and Sherwood bring sufficient chemistry to the lab to justify return. The title track is a mellow beauty, piano interplaying with percussion and mournful horns, while gorgeously loping Passing Clouds is more Womad than Peter Gabriel in a kaftan.
