Eshe Escoffery’s debut EP, Life Live Be Here, is an eclectic mix of soulful collaborations which clearly depict her gospel, R’n’B and jazz influences. Eshe’s vocals are soothing, captivating and display the mastery that we have come to expect from a member of the Escoffery family. The EP also pays tribute to Old Skool Hip Hop (What’s Going Wrong) and drum ‘n’ bass (Better Dayz). Overall, the music is full of emotion and lifts the spirit exponentially, even when the subject matter is BLM or separation (Miss U).
Life Live Be Here opens with I Pray 4, an evocation of Eshe’s matrilineal heritage. In this two-minute introduction, Eshe’s smooth, high toned vocals are contrasted by a constant guttural scraper and intermittent harmonies that take us back to a time in a past we have yet to imagine. A surprise doubling up towards the end of the intro brings you back to the present, and shows off Eshe’s versatility to perfection.
I carry the prayers of my mother and my mothers before, as I lay in the waters of her womb…
My EP is an offering of my favourite genres and styles, old to contemporary. My sisters and I sang traditional and neo-gospel sounds – (a term used by our Father George Escoffery), supporting artists like Omar and Don-e. I particularly enjoyed working on Chinese classical pop with Vanessa Mae, the violinist, and in Wolof, with Baba Maal. There was an ancestral feel to the music that resonated deep within me.
Reazon, a dedication to Eshe’s mother, Ma Millie Escoffery, and an homage to Motown’s continuing relevance. It is a soulful remix of a drum ‘n’ bass theme produced effectively by Simon Templa. This revamped soul mix has a bouncy, jazzed up tempo that totally transforms the mood, but still gets your body moving in all the right places. Eshe’s vocals remind me of Earth, Wind and Fire in this track and the video indicates a woman of royalty who is supremely comfortable in her own skin.
Too many of our children dying, too many of us crying…
Track 3 is a political statement buried in original hip hop beats, complete with the scratching. The track titled WGW is a reminder that the condition of melanated people in the UK, the USA and indeed around the planet depicts a world struggling with madness and despair. Eshe’s probing vocal arrangement invokes Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On?, and laments that there are still far too many deaths of melanated people, young and older.
Black lives matter
Cheri Groce Stephen Lawrence Sarah Reed
1518 deaths in police custody since 1990 in England and Wales
Enter Jahaziel’s (nephew of Maxi Priest) heartfelt rap to strike a raw nerve.
Black lives matter, so I matter… Who needs the cops if you can’t trust them to help? I’m done with all this discussion, it’s justice or else…
Eshe’s gentle vocal harmonies coupled with the haunting piano riff in Miss U tug at our heart strings and will be loved by all the ladies missing their significant other for whatever reason. But by far my favourite song on this EP is Better Dayz, a drum ‘n’ bass dance track that reminds me of 4 Hero and the glorious days of Marc Mac and Plastic People in Shoreditch. As most of Eshe’s lyrics tend to be, Better Dayz is uplifing and optimistic.
Although Eshe’s latest song, Venus Star is not on this EP, I have to mention it for the feeling it produces, not only in me, but in others who have heard it. Another love song and an ode to the planet Venus, the song is a captivating mixture of evocative vocals and pulsing instruments that fill your heart and take you on a journey into the galaxy. It’s definitely one for Valentine’s Day and roses.
“Venus Star is an expression of emotion, of love, to love and be loved and wondering where Venus the goddess of love, fertility, beauty and victory is to grant that wish.” Eshe Escoffery
If you haven’t already done so, do check out Eshe’s body of work and you’ll recognise her as an excellent exponent of the Escoffery tradition.
mnkabayi 
