Its stylistic diversity can be off-putting at first. But the more you listen, the more it all comes together. And it’s worth listening enough to get to that point, because the band has created one of the more unique and refreshing debuts in recent memory.
Like a good pic'n'mix, there’s a flavour for everyone on John Wizards, and Nzaramba and Withers make sure you never have to dig to the bottom of the bag to find one you like.
Look too close and its songs crumble, but take them as pieces of a whole and the music takes on the playful energy of a mixtape: sweeping its diversity, charming in its curiosity, and generally more geared to the pleasure of the listener than the self-expression of the artist.
They’re simply interested in mixing together Western and African styles of music to create something on which a genre cannot be pinned, and that keeps the listener coming back in order to figure it out.
There’s so much packed into these 15 lush, context-evading songs, though, that map references are pretty futile.
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