Review: Anthony Joseph - The Ark (Heavenly Sweetness)

Heavenly Sweetness' championing of Anthony Joseph over the years is coming to it's peak as 'The Ark' is ready to take us on a journey with Dave Okumo. 

Any excuse to recommend the Joseph's Afrofuturisic poetry, but it's hard to believe that Joseph's book, The African Origins Of UFOs was originally published in October 2006!  The best part of 20 years on, five albums on Heavenly Sweetness, he now brings us 'The Ark' for us to get onboard.

Joseph's spoken word/poetry is like a space-age funk Zephaniah and is perfecty accompanied by the 'Great Modern Black Music' of Dave Okumu who "burst" onto the London "underground" scene at the time of Bugz In The Attic, Gilles Peterson's "golden era" and getting noticed in the highly acclaimed ) trio 'The Invisible' (with Tom Herbert and Leo Taylor).  In fact, the album features quite a few of Dave-like usual suspects, Tom Skinner, Eska Mtungwazi, Colin Webster, Nick Ramm, Aviram Barath, Byron Wallen, James Wade Sired, Dan See, Richard Spaven and Giacomo Smith.

Opening with tracks 'James' and 'Blue 'Susan', you get the lyrical jazz-funk-soul reference framework (Delfonics, James Brown, Archie Bell & The Dells, Thad Jones, Don Byas) that lies on bed of Sun Ra, Gil-Scot Heron/Brian Jackson and Bill Laswell.

Where 'The African Origins of UFOs' (so influencial) leads to the title track and clearly Joseph "connects" with Sun Ra (as recently seen HERE) with last weeks' Record Store Day, props for the Winifred Atwell acknowledgements ('Transposition Of Space (Glissant)'.

Sounds like a modern day equivalent band behind the influencial album 'Genes And Spirits' by Moses Taiwa Molelekwa back in 2000, with the poetic readings, there's also a ambient/dub vibes that's quite unique.

Would be amazing at any gig/festival (WOMAD,We Out Here, etc), 'James' is like a the James Brown tribute the world needed to get onto 'The Ark', which becomes less obvious/losses its way or finds it's direction/two by two salvation depending on your point of view. 

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: The Ark | Anthony Joseph

Artist: Anthony Joseph
Title: The Ark
Release Date : 24th April, 2026

Label : Heavenly Sweetness 
Catalog Number : -

Format: 2 x LP (Gatefold) / CD / Digital / Bandcamp