Zara McFarlane — Songs of an Unknown Tongue

Qobuz new release review (July 2020)

https://open.qobuz.com/album/e9fe004sh6ska

It’s been nearly a decade since Zara McFarlane’s debut album was released into a world just getting its brain around the possibilities of Britain’s new jazz scene. The singer’s latest, Songs of an Unknown Tongue, dips deeply into the sounds of the African diaspora in a way that is philosophically similar to 2017’s Arise — melding tradition-rooted rhythms with a profoundly modern approach. However, where Arise connected explicitly with Afro-Caribbean sounds, Unknown Tongue taps into more directly African sounds for the rhythmic underpinnings here. Still, those sounds and grooves are delivered in a spacious, electronic soundscape that gives plenty of room for McFarlane’s voice to shine. That voice is a powerful force indeed, and while the singer tends toward a restrained and evocative delivery, the strength of her instrument is made abundantly clear. The sultry and soulful “Black Treasure” and the sparse, driving, and future-jazzy “Run of Your Life,” are two tracks which could easily be mistaken for the works of completely different artists in their vibe and approach, but the easy versatility of McFarlane’s singing ensures they make perfect sense here. This is, after all, a journey of an album, taking the listener through groove-forward optimism (“Everything Is Connected”) and emotionally complex introspection (“Saltwater”), while culminating in the hypnotic, electro-Nyabinghi groove of “Roots of Freedom” and a more traditionalist album closer, “Future Echoes.” © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz