The Invisible: Rispah (Ninja Tune, 6/12/12)
“Protection”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/The_Invisible_Protection.mp3|titles=The Invisible: “Protection”]The sophomore album from London-based pop-rock trio The Invisible opens with thick, mournful swirls of keyboards intended as a send-off for guitarist/singer Dave Okumu’s deceased mother. Evoking a painful separation at the shore between life and the afterlife, the keyboards give rise to the contrasting buoyance of traditional Kenyan folk singing. Within seconds, Rispah (named after Okumu’s mom) announces itself as a work of rich ambiguity.