After releasing
Neuroplasticity
,
Cold Specks
'
Ladan Hussein
revisited her roots, both locally and globally. She returned to her Toronto hometown and dug into her Somali heritage, which included her father's founding role in a band called
Iftin
during the '70s. Watching VHS footage of the band playing sparked her interest in Somalia and especially its capital city Mogadishu, where her father's family lived before the civil war scattered her relatives across the globe.
Hussein
channeled this inspiration into
Fool's Paradise
, a collection of songs about loss, hope, and survival that ranks among her finest work. She draws on the strength of her heritage, most strikingly on the title track, where she invokes Araweelo, a semi-mythical Somalian queen and quotes the Somali idiom "kala garo naftaada iyo laftaada" ("understand the difference between your bones and your soul") over moody R&B with a '70s tinge. The album's smooth, stripped-down sound is miles away from both
I Predict a Graceful Expulsion
's doom-folk and the more experimental
, but as
's music evolves, her voice remains the focus; the mingled pain and resilience she expresses on "Rupture" -- which was inspired by a family friend being shot and killed near his home -- is palpable. Likewise, when she sings "I'll be there for you/Don't know why" on "Wild Card," it's apparent she perseveres because she has to. As mournful as
can get, it also reflects how
has learned to temper the moodier parts of her music with more hopeful elements, and later songs such as "New Moon" and "Exile" complete its journey of growth and acceptance. Her richest music yet,
is a beautiful portrait of
's heritage and artistry. ~ Heather Phares