– On the urgent new single,”No Bloodshed,” Jamaican singjay Don Husky juxtaposes sweet melodies and rugged chatting over a heavy roots dancehall riddim produced by the late great Lee “Scratch” Perry’s NYC band Subatomic Sound System in the future dubwise style of their acclaimed Super Ape Returns to Conqueralbum and their recent hit“Police in Helicopter” featuring Jah9 &Yaadcore. “No Bloodshed” is out now on all viaYard Birdz Records on Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, Audiomack, Bandcamp and all digital platforms, along with an official video that recently premiered on leading international reggae hub Reggaeville.
WATCH “NO BLOODSHED” OFFICIAL VIDEO
The new visuals, shot in Don Husky’s rough and tumble neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens in Kingston, were directed by Tizzy Tokyo and feature a special cameo by legendary sound system builder Uncle Ronnie, builder of the system in the video as well as Kingston Dub Club and many others.
“The inspiration behind ‘No Bloodshed’ was in observing the severity of violence and murders not just in my homeland, but around the world in general,” said Don Husky. He continued, “when I received the original vintage riddim created by Subatomic Sound System, it immediately brought me to the space of old school roots reggae, performed by genre veterans.”
Husky, who was hailed byBBC 1xtra’s Toddla T as one of the “sickest brand new artists” on the dancehall reggae scene, has indeed shared the microphone with some aforementioned genre veterans like Ninjaman and Bounty Killer, who have given the young artist the spotlight on big Jamaican stage shows like Portland Splash.
Supported by Subatomic’s 21 st century sub bass and drums, and plenty of dubwise smoke and fire, Don Husky’s baritone rides the riddim on “No Bloodshed” with lyrics about Kingston street life and his dream to make his “mama live how the queen lives.” Subatomic’s producer Emch chops and mixes the music under Husky’s verses in a lively fashion typical of a sound system dance rather than a studio session. While Don Husky’s vocals evoke early deejay stars like Yellowman and Tiger, his tone and delivery is a clear descendent of the modern sound of Bounty Killer and Vybz Kartel. The result is a forward leaning boomshot that harkens back to classic moments for a cross generational flex.
The Dubstrumental mix highlights Subatomic’s Troy Shaka Simms whose horn arrangements evoke Jamaica’s golden age of 1980s Channel One roots dancehall recordings as well as peppering it with African melodies inspired by the timeless Ethiopian jazz of Mulatu Astatke. Emch adds heavily effected melodica blasts in the style ofAugustus Pablo’s experiments with Lee Perry at theBlack Ark studio and goes wild on the knobs and faders, soloing instruments and splashing in spring reverb, Mu-Tron phasors, and Space Echo trails that float up and away like clouds of ganja smoke dissipating in the night sky above Kingston.
“As a selecta as well as a producer, I’ve noticed this track lifts people in the dance, right from the drums and horns at the top, followed by the rich tone of his voice and bass line locking in,” offered Emch. He added, “while the title addresses a serious topic, the energy of both the vocal and the beat carry an optimism that the world really needs right now.”
No stranger to the road, Subatomic Sound System hits the west coast of the U.S. next week for a string of dates in celebration of Lee “Scratch” Perry’s March 20th birthday.
Recorded in Kingston, Jamaica; Brooklyn, New York, and Los Angeles, California. Produced,
mixed, & mastered by Emch at Subatomic Sound in NYC & LA. Vocals: Don Husky |
Saxophone: Troy Simms | Bass, Keys, Guitars, Samplers, & Dub Effects: Emch | Art by
Matteo Anselmo (Italy)
