Album Review: Ziggy Marley, Brightside

The cornerstone track from Brightside, the ninth album from serial Grammy winner Ziggy Marley, is the mighty ‘Mourn For Bob’, a powerful tribute to the legacy of his father, the iconic Bob Marley. Accompanied by a moving music video, featuring rare images from the family archives, the track includes Bob himself talking about the greatness of the almighty Rastafari and his own inner being.
In addition, Ziggy’s brother Stephen accompanies him on guitar and vocals. It’s all pretty special, and marks the first time that Ziggy has written and recorded an original song specifically dedicated to his father.

Brightside is a record of healing intent; indeed, the sonic boffins tell us the album was recorded using 432Hz, a soothing frequency regularly employed for meditation and other mindful practises. I don’t know about that, but it sounds great to me.

Opener ‘Jah We Give Glory’ is a benediction for global peace, Ziggy sounding incredibly like his Da. Lead single ‘Racism Is A Killa’, complete with zany video, offers a buoyant prescription against such odious behaviour. Elsewhere, ‘Hey People Now’ is a soaring gospel-funk duet; ‘Sweet Divine’ is mightily playful; and ‘Make It Paradise’ is a laid-back acoustic jam in the Hawaiian style.
As with the rest of the record, there’s a defiantly optimistic outlook – the bedrock of Marley’s philosophy.

• OUT NOW.