Former Jamiroquai percussionist and TV composer Sola Akingbola features on our pages for the first time with the release of his new single, Touch My Soul.

By Graeme Smith

It was in Yorubaland in Southwestern Nigeria that Sola was born before relocating to London and receiving a British upbringing. As well as featuring in the line-up of Jamiroquai, he’s scored music for film, TV and the theatre. In fact, the title track of his upcoming album, How Should I, was originally written to score a Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Hamlet in 2016, and includes vocals from Olivier-winning actor Sheila Atim.

Backed by his band, The Eegun Rhapsodies, Sola brings together his love of different cultures with his new project, drawing on Greek myth and the music of Nigeria’s Yorubas, all interpreted through a British lens.

Teasing the album, set for release later this month, is single Touch My Soul. Opening stripped-back, Sola’s vocals take centre stage, delivering poetic lyrics before being backed by a choir of voices and an instrumental arrangement that is wonderfully genre-blending. If the rest of the album is up to the same standard, we’re in for an absolute treat.

Touch My Soul is out now and you can give it a listen below.