All Answers in Music

Listening Post 364. The year 2020 brought a global pandemic, but for Minyeshu Kifle Tedla it also inspired Netsa (Free), her fifth album. The Ethiopian singer-songwriter (who lives in Amsterdam) viewed the unexpected hiatus from touring and the shared threat to all humanity as causes for introspection, posing questions about life and career. She churned her meditations into a collection—alternately explosive, gentle and mystical—of 10 songs exploring love, memory, heritage, nature and connection. The album floats on the artist’s luscious voice; a blend of western and Ethiopian instruments; and a stylistic palette of Ethio- and straight-ahead jazz, dappled with reggae, Afrobeat and funk. She opens with childhood energy in Fidel (Alphabet, video 1), a rhythmic recitation of letters and numbers in Amharic; and shows playful reverence for the ancient wonder and cultural richness of her homeland in Ethio yo yo Pia (video 2). She embraces the continent, balancing Amharic verses about intimacy and memory with the Zulu refrain Qakhaza Thando (Love Blossoms, video 3), chanted by Afrika Mamas—one of two tracks featuring the South African ensemble. Hearts unite in sculpted harmony in Qulef (The Key, video 4); while Fiker (Love, video 5) is a dreamy waltz, expressing Minyeshu’s unconditional affection for her mother, her daughter and her country. Other tracks pay homage to the Blue Nile, which originates in northwest Ethiopia, and to Erta Ale, the country’s most active volcano, noted for a molten lava lake that has endured more than a century without hardening. Though mostly upbeat, Netsa carries an air of longing and loss, dictated by time, distance, and choices. It also reflects the feeling of freedom the artist took from a unique passage, when the absence of choice prompted questions, when all the answers came back as music, cascading into a delicious and exhilarating theory of everything. (ARC Music)

Minyeshu: Free / ምንየሹ: ነፃ
Minyeshu Kifle Tedla: Vocals
Afrika Mamas: Backing vocals
Michael Demissew: Backing vocals
Eric van de Lest: Keyboards, drums, percussion, piano
Wouter Schueler: Baritone sax, tenor sax
Miguel Boelens: Alto sax, soprano sax, tenor sax
Wilbrand Meischke: Bass
Arthur Lijten: Drums
Arefayne Bisrat: Masenqo
Ermiyas Nadew: Washint
Dawit Zenebe: Kirar
Diederik van Wassenaer: Violins
Ethiopian festival performers: Chechezeya

Fidel / ፊደል / Alphabet
Lyrics: Minyeshu Kifle Tedla/Music: Minyeshu Kifle Tedla, Eric van de Lest

A song of learning and play as young children learn to recite the alphabet. Performed in Amharic.

Ethio yo yo Pia / ኢትዮ ዮ ዮ ጵያ
Lyrics: Minyeshu Kifle Tedla/Music: Minyeshu Kifle Tedla, Eric van de Lest

Through changing rhythms, the song expresses pride Ethiopia’s history, culture and natural beauty. Performed in Amharic.

Qhakaza Thando / ቁሀካዛ ታሀንዶ / Love Blossoms
Feat. Afrika Mamas
Lyrics: Minyeshu Kifle Tedla/Music: Minyeshu Kifle Tedla, Eric van de Lest

A song of love, dreams and memory. Minyeshu sings verses in Amharic Afrika Mamas sing the title refrain in Zulu. 

Qulef / ቁልፍ / The Key
Lyrics: Minyeshu Kifle Tedla/Music: Minyeshu Kifle Tedla, Eric van de Lest

Paying tribute to love and unity, the song describes how a lover can hold the key to our hears and homes, that when two parts are locked together they become one. Sung in Amharic.

Fiker / ፍቅር / Love
Lyrics: Minyeshu Kifle Tedla/Music: Minyeshu Kifle Tedla, Eric van de Lest

“For me,” says Minyeshu, “the three things that come to mind when I think of unconditional love are my country, Ethiopia; my mother; and my daughter. They form who I am today.” Sung in Amharic.