Asa made a grand return to the industry in May when she ended her 5 year hiatus with the eclectic The Beginning, a track she’s since followed with a couple of singles including the stirring My Dear which she performed live at the dreamy Febrer Studio in Paris. Four and a half months later, she reprises her role as a force of soul music in West Africa with the promised 14-track Lucid, Asa’s fourth studio album.
This year marks the 12th year since Asa released her eponymously titled debut album Aṣa (Asha) and with 12 years experience under her belt, Lucid is a stark reminder and reflection of the soul singer’s growth over the years. She embeds her evolution in the framework of the album which opens up with Murder in the USA, a track that cuts across subjects and vices and manages to twine its variant themes into one giant acoustic imprint, a form the entirety of the album takes.
In typical Asa fashion, the album is an exploration of emotions not limited to romance and growth, all limited to sharing the sonorous and swayful sounds of soft acoustics. On the Gothic Torn, she lets loose the darker side of her modified persona which she flexes as she switches things up on the ensuing track, Happy Place. We get a taste of the Asa who will never forget her roots on the Guitar driven and Yoruba articulated Femi Mo and the terminal, My Dear in which the emotional roller-coaster the listener rides throughout the entire album, climaxes on soft high notes.
Asa’s place in the industry has never been in doubt and though she’s been away for years, Lucid is proof that she never lost her magic touch all these years. Listen to the album below;
Photo credit: @lakinogunbanwo
