Ahadu

Esy Tadesse’s Ahadu is a gentle call to step back and embrace the stillness and peace of solitude. The Ethiopian-born, Los Angeles-based guitarist and composer blends traditional Ethiopian scales with desert blues, psych-rock, and Western jazz, creating a soundscape that feels both otherworldly yet grounded in a sense of place. The style and tone changes from track to track, so that each one feels more like an impressionistic little sketch that uses Ethiopian qignits (scales) and hypnotic repetition rather than standard song structures. Yet it all comes together in a cohesive whole thanks to Tadesse’s lovely, expressive guitar playing that runs through the record like a unifying thread. Her silken vocals also drift through the album, such as on the dreamy “Lideta,” with its hypnotic, looping riff, or on the lilting, tizita-infused “Shinbra,” with its bluesy atmospheres and piercing guitar solos. Things get even more poignant on the broody “Ere Manew,” where the raw sounds of the krar offer a gritty counterpoint to Tadesse’s luminous voice. The vintage organ, serene soundscapes, and simple electronics on “Bati” are divine. “Buna,” with its blend of Ethiopian melody and Tuareg-inspired riffs, is celebratory and uplifting, but a melancholy undercurrent still runs through it. Produced by the excellent Kibrom Birhane, Ahadu is one of those that invites you to sit down, pause, and lose yourself in its depths.