Abijah - 'Global Wilderness'

Reviewed by Everett Hart & Staff

Global Wilderness, performed by CME award winner Abijah and written by Songwriter Ethan Johnson, starts out with warm acoustic guitar, shakers, hand percussion, and a relaxed bassline. These elements form a bossa nova groove that provides a steady bed for the rest of the song. Later on, the arrangement swells with swirling synthesizers, lush background vocals, and an organ-like pad. The arrangement features lead acoustic guitar, providing tasteful solos and countermelodies in the upper part of its range. In general, Global wilderness has a healthy splash of reverb, creating a deep, enveloping feel.

The lead vocal soars with emotion and intensity. Abijah has a strong tenor range, with rasp and soul that toe the line between reggae and blues. With elegant phrasing and lingering echoes, the vocals on Global Wilderness feel epic, like an 80’s power ballad. However, the overall effect is more grounded because of the somber lyrics and political themes of the song.

Global Wilderness laments the lack of international unity and understanding in today’s world, comparing the way we treat each other to a “global wilderness.” Abijah points out how public misinformation and increased political polarization feed into each other:

“You cannot even trust the news […] and there’s no room, no room for compromise.”

Global Wilderness juxtaposes pleasant, mellow instrumentation with disturbing and insightful political commentary, resulting in a song that is thought-provoking, yet palatable. It’s no easy feat to create music with a meaningful societal message, but Ethan Johnson and Abijah do just that with Global Wilderness.

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About Abijah

Abijah whose real name is Andrew Smith was born in Kingston Jamaica to a mother who was a Christian and a father who was a Rastafari and member of the Mystic Revelation Band. As a gifted songwriter, performer, and musician, Abijah went on to win The Caribbean Music Expo CME Award in the year 2000 with his new Single "Revelation" He was the face of The Jamaica tourism board and The Jamaica Peace Ambassador tour that have him speak at several Universities including Oxford, Harvard and the University of the West Indies Among his songs are: "Where Is That Love, Press On and Overcome feature, Kevin Campbell. His May 2020 Released Single "Global Wilderness" written by Ethan Johnson is written like a Novel Movie soundtrack. You can find Abijah @abijah_music and homejudahmusic.com Connect on Facebook

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