MUSIC REVIEW: 'Unajua' by Gilad Feat Wendy Kimani

Artistes: Gilad feat Wendy Kimani

Song: Unajua

Rating: 8/10

Gilad pushes his “Black Mamba” bicycle in slow motion while singing the intro lyrics in real time, a well-executed slow-mo-lip-sync technique that director Mush King chooses for the opening scenes.

And from the way the acoustic and muted guitars combine with Gilad’s raspy voice, you can readily predict it’s going to be a good listen as well.

A surprising collaboration by the former Israeli deputy ambassador to Kenya and a sexy TPF finalist sees the pair craftily fuse Swahili and English lyrics to playact a scenario where they’re reminiscing about a love gone sour and venting withdrawal symptoms after their  tragic break-up.

Wendy tones down her sassiness to reflect the nostalgia of the moment while Gilad does his best to blend into the ghetto culture.

If he’s not seated on an old wooden stool next to a dusty bicycle repair shop, he’s having ugali madondo (bean stew with ugali) at a run-down food kiosk in the sprawling estate where the video was shot.

At 75 BPM, the sweet and syrupy beat is slow and sure and would be in the right company with Nameless’ Ngang’ana and Chris Martin’s Let Her Go in a reggae music diehard’s playlist.

There’s also good control of the instrumentation as it sounds properly mixed and mastered, showing no distortion even when played at high volumes.

Watch out for the scene where Gilad is singing straight into a condenser microphone against a sharp, black background that might have as well featured an advertiser’s slogan.

That particular scene is so cleverly and tastefully colour-graded that if the music were muted, you would think he was advertising that particular brand of microphones!

"Unajua" is a sure win for all who were involved in its production. Kudos.