In Awe

Album Review

Not as accessible as their previous effort Treasure, Midnite's In Awe finds St. Croix's mystical reggae secret living up to album's title and creating slowly unfurling tone poems that honor nature, the Rastaman's history, and those who fight against the "generation of lies" as the surprisingly jazzy "Worth Working For" puts forth. Key track here is the light one-drop song "The World Is Beautiful" which sounds like Big Youth messing with township jive and Afro-pop, but those who prefer the bad news first will gravitate toward the dubby and dark "Psych Ops," a truly poetic political track that suggests we will one day be crushed under the weight of our own apathy. Getting the most out of Midnite albums requires both an open mind and attentive ears, and while In Awe rewards when approached as such, this is one is heavy on the enigmatic meter and in the red when it comes to the Rastafarian doctrine and damning of Babylon.