Winston McAnuff & Fixi: A New Day – review

It's been a great year for unlikely fusion music, as shown by that rousing collaboration between Transglobal Underground and the Albanian military brass band Fanfara Tirana, and here's another unexpected, if more muted, clash of styles. Winston McAnuff, once known as Electric Dread, is a veteran of the Jamaican reggae scene of the 1970s, but has moved to France and teamed up with Francois Xavier Bossard, better known as Fixi. He's an accordion-player and producer who has mixed French folk with hip-hop and Afrobeat and worked with Fela Kuti's legendary drummer Tony Allen, who makes an appearance on this rhythmic, easy-going set. McAnuff has a fine, relaxed and soulful voice, and the songs range from the gently stomping, accordion-backed reggae of I'm A Rebel to the slinky Economic Crisis and thoughtful balladry of the title track. Inventive, but surprisingly laid-back compared to their live shows.