Visible Seven is a collection of world music from emerging and refugee communities throughout Melbourne, funded by a government body.
When first reading this, it’s easy to envision the project being a quaint mission in esteem-building, but this perception couldn’t be more wrong.
The CD is a perfect showcase of the musical talent and cultural diversity that is thriving in areas a little off the radar of most listeners.
Considering the circumstances of many of the artists, it could be expected that their work would be a reflection of the hardships they’ve had to face.
But instead, the primary emotion that echoes through the collection is joy.
Each track is vastly different from the next, but there is a constant, optimistic thread tying them all together which provides coherency to a record with influences from all over the globe.
Take for example the hopeful guitar line in the stirring ‘yemegemriaye,’ or the exuberance of upbeat Sengalese number ‘Jigeen.’
There’s the earthiness of ‘Hacia El Amor’ with its infectious tribal rhythms that is balanced against the reggae groove of ‘Get Up And Live.’
Unless you’re fluent in Amharic, Burundian, Congolese, Mandinka, Wolof, Dinka and Tibetan, it won’t be obvious what’s going on lyrically for most of the time on this record.
The best way to approach Visible Seven is simply to sit back and enjoy the staggering range of instruments and styles that have been packaged into one easily digestible compilation.
