Preceding a lengthy hiatus, self proclaimed ‘Sound god’, Douglas Jack Agu, profoundly hailed as Run-town resurges like a fallen phoenix with the recent release of his much talked about, and eagerly anticipated thirteen track oeuvre which is unostentatiously titled ‘Signs’ by the singer. Fending off a bit, doesn’t Run-town’s actual name sound like a prospective Nigerian action thriller character? “Douglas Jack Agu”, come on, you gotta admit, it kinda fits.
With the unsolicited comic relief out of the way, let’s talk about ‘Signs’. The album starts with a laid back Run-town. The Enugu born superstar sounds even more refined than ever on album starter and title muse, ‘Signs’. Seemingly, maturity has taking its toll and such is obvious with the project opener; a philosophical closure on omens, money and futile attempts at purchasing his soul which the singer deems invaluable.
Nostalgia who? Just when you thought Run-town forgot how to be Run-town, the singer’s old flows catapults back to life on ‘Sinner-man’. Runtown taps from the fountain of Legendary American singer, Nina Simone. The American songstress grama-phony vocals is been sampled on the record, after which the Nigerian singer subsequently glides over Afro rhythms. ‘Sinner-man’ is interestingly groovy,( a bottle of Hennessy to the gentleman who played bass!).
Delicious melodies on “Things I Know”, melodies so euphoric, you might get tempted to reminisce back to when the Sound-god dropped his classic hit, “Mad over you”. The emo- track is designed to trap listeners. ‘High spirits’ is ethereal as the name suggests.
Who ever could have discerned that Jamopyper and Runtown would blend well on a song?, not me for sure. On a placard, the pair seem odd, but both singers are surprisingly a scintillating match on “O Fe Pa Mi”. Speaking of Scintillating combos, British Singer, Mr Hudson awe-droppingly swoons over electric synthesizers on ‘Dangerous Hearts’, delivering a hook so cathartic could make a grown man weep.
Run-town sure takes pride in being diverse, such is the case with ‘Under Pressure’. The record is Latino rumba influenced as Afrobeats travels beyond its borders, arriving safely on Caribbean thresholds. The remainder of the album is filled with jolly and emo-influenced bops, Run-town depicts all the signs of a global super-star, quite honestly, this is a solid project, a very rich ascension of sounds, guess the Sound-god is really back in business.