The Sout Project launch at Montebello in Cape Town last night. Probably the biggest thing we’ve done, musically, and an excellent way of saying “update your religion.”

More on the Sout Project

review published on SoutProject.net

In an age where dodging marketing shrapnel is synonymous with locating and consuming worthwhile music, it is the narrative essence of a good album which makes it worth obtaining. A good album will take you on a journey, and while there is plenty of excellent music out there, stringing together ten tracks with thematic consistency and under one musical umbrella is the goal towards which the true artist must patiently strive.

With a list of credits that reads like the white pages, a formidible force of composers and performing artists have gathered under the moniker “The Sout Project” to create such a journey. The 50-strong group, under the leadership of long-standing composer and creative director Nic Paton, have tugged tightly on their collective talents to present suitably named debut album Story.

To avoid clichés, we’ll call it ‘World Emergent’ music, and we’ll only mention the obvious diversity of musical influences once. Featuring a 12-piece African choir, a string quartet, over 10 rare world instruments, and a bedrock of carefully delivered electronic ambient and dance sequencing, Story is a bold thrust in the direction of true multi-cultural and collaboration.

An introduction by renowned emergent church leader Brian McLaren kickstarts a electronic adaptation of classic hymn and title track, Story. Traditional South African ‘makhulu’ Madosini opens Vine (Ubuntu) with the inimitable sound of the umhupi mouth bow. Aumen, Be Still and Held offer a range of edgy Indian percussion sounds, ethereal downtempo melodies (again lyrically parsed from Biblical scripture), and slow bossa with four-part choral harmonies.

And suddenly, from a pool of tracks perhaps more suited as background aural fodder for evenings of red wine and crystal glasses comes the reminder that The Sout Project isn’t creating just spectator music. Prepare to get off your chair for the raw power of what is surely an anthemic dance singalong for the emergent church: Circle. Between the noisy vuvuzelas, whistles, house beat and obvious fun, the message of the piece is plain: Your circumference is nowhere and your centre is everywhere. If the world were to ever be wholly united singing just one line of lyrics, this may well be the one.

The album stands as as tribute not just to spiritual re-interpretation, but to the power of music in uniting people of differing beliefs and backgrounds. In Story, the Sout Project present to us a narrative of unity and love.