Sounds Of Joy
Sweet Lord, this is it! A recent Instagram post by Brighton's Hivemind Records put us onto this equally recent and brilliant release on Berlin's Philophon imprint by Ghanaian gospel/Frafra artist Alogte Oho and his Sounds of Joy backing band. Similar to Ghana's Kologo master Guy One, Alogte Oho was discovered by Philophon's main man Max Weissenfeldt on a trip to Ghana in 2013, when he stepped off the bus and heard one of Alogte Oho's songs blaring from a nearby speaker system.
Having grown up in the rainforest of southern Ghana, Alogte Oho moved to "the land of the Frafra" in northern Ghana as a young boy and became fascinated by the "glorious moments he experienced at the church in Namoo, his father's village of origin." In 2007 he released his first album, but it took two more full-length releases, before he landed his first hit "Mam Yinne Wa" in 2012. Fast-forward to 2014, when Alogte Oho released his first single "Zota Yinne" on Philophon and joined an extended tour through Ghana alongside Max Weissenfeldt, some fellow musicians from Germany and the aforementioned Guy One.
It was during that tour, that Alogte Oho revealed the repertoire, along with a new version of his single "Mam Yinne Wa" (re-released on Philophon in 2016), that now graces his eponymous first full-length release on Philophon. You can stream "Mam Yinne Wa" the album and watch the companion music video to "Mam Yinne Wa" the single below. You can also find a short documentary on Alogte Oho here. Rest assured, this music will bring joy to your life.
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