Jinja Safari

Having globe-trotted across the world in search of the musical Holy Grail, Jinja Safari has returned to Australian and offered up their self-titled debut album.

Despite leaving “Hiccups” and other Locked By Land titles behind, the staple Safari tropes continue to resonate in this very ambitious release- much to the debatable aid and ail of the twelve-track composition.

Appealing to the fantasies of every listener’s inner dream child, the duo and their trio of right-hand men at times fall into the trap of feeding reproduced ‘orientalist’ sounds for the sake of their Other-ly value, rather than exercising selective restraint in appropriating their travel experiences.

This sub-conscious flaw is evident in the slightly insipid opening quarter of the album, where the bombastic beginnings and flashy churns evaporate the potential effervescence of tracks “Apple” and “Toothless Grin”.

Thankfully, that’s where the wobbles end.

The remainder of the record deviates with a contrasting complexity and sophistication, vocalist Marcus Azon and co-collaborator Pepa Knight swapping stagnant adolescent dabbles for songs laden with progressive narrative and cultural currency.

This is best demonstrated by the majestically arranged yet humble “Source Of The Nile”; conventional-pop epic “Just One Thing” and sitar-saturated “Harrison”.

Boasting a sunny-side-up indie-pop optimism balanced by shots of self-contemplative sobriety, Jinja Safari translates into an agreeable travel diary of sort’s -complete with the common pitfalls and triumphs associated with such a form.

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