Dave Okumu lives in the fabric of contemporary UK music. As a prolific songwriter, producer, performer and musical director, his contributions have bolstered music by the likes of Jessie Ware, Adele, Arlo Parks and the late Tony Allen. His wispy voice, sincere demeanour and guitar chops stewarded his Mercury-nominated band the Invisible through three shapeshifting albums, and finally anchored a solo debut, Knopperz, in 2021.
Even then the serial collaborator couldn’t resist, and that record interpolated elements of Duval Timothy’s work and paid homage to J Dilla’s Donuts. I Came from Love is Okumu’s first record of purely original material, but naturally it’s still stacked with fascinating features – including Kwabs, Anthony Joseph and one Grace Jones – conversing with words from Black cultural luminaries such as Aimé Césaire and Stuart Hall, and drawing from an extensive lineage of Black experience, such that Okumu describes the 7 Generations as “collaborating” with his own ancestors and successors.
Muddied melodies of sea shanties and spirituals mark the opening of 7 Generations, which sets out to illustrate a slave ship’s crossing. Blood Ah Go Run, inspired by the New Cross fire, finds political urgency by laying protest chants and news reports over a bass line’s downtown shuffle, while the dub-rock saunter of A Paradise and Black Firework open up space for prayers. Always soulful and forever in the groove, Okumu’s seamless genre switch-ups ensure I Came from Love finds strength in its multiplicity. Its myriad voices channel a communal tradition of oral storytelling into London itself: “If these streets could speak, what would they say?”
