Fetsum – Light In A Dark Place out now. Since his debut album in summer 2012 (“The Colors Of Hope“) Fetsum has grown to become an artist, whose goal is to make music with social relevance and is able to provoke to act. The “Peace x Peace”-Festival in Berlin this year, initiated and organized by Fetsum Sebhat reinforces his wholeheartedly involvement for a fairer, more social and more peaceful world.
Looked at it that way it’s not a surprise at all that the son of an Eritrean refugee family just wrote a book together with the vice president of the German parliament, Claudia Roth about the current political situation (“So geht Deutschland – Eine Anstiftung zum Mitmachen und Einmischen”). You could almost believe there’s no time left for music. But just before Christmas Fetsum finally favours us with his new EP “Light In A Dark Place” and turns its title into substantial action. Just as with the PxP festival, UNICEF children aid projects in Syria, South Sudan, in the Ukraine and in Iraq will be supported with the net revenues. For the EP’s six songs Fetsum visited the recording studios of several top shot producers in Great Britain and in the US over the last few months.
“Pass It On” is a beautiful, folky soul ballad with inevitable sing-along effect Fetsum wrote together with Dominic Salole aka Mocky and recorded it with hit producer Justin Stanley. It’s also Stanley who produced “Tiger”, a song Fetsum is collaborating on with LA based Harlan Silverman (e.g. guitar player with Mayer Hawthorne). Probably one of the most important songs the Berliner by choice has written in his career is “Refugee”. An anthem which could make Fetsum carry the hope of a whole generation. For this song, no one less than British composer Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams, James Blunt etc.) has helped him out as well as Swedish prouder Martin Terefe. He was also responsible for production duties on “Love Isn’t Love” and “Paradise”. Both two songs which get under the skin and spread optimism without ever drift off into cheesiness. A downright call for action is the protest song “Stop For A Minute” for which Fetsum invited a whole choir to the Funkhaus Studios Berlin and which was mixed by the eight time Grammy Awards winner Manny Marroquin.
Fetsum manages with “Light In A Dark Place” to achieve something that not a lot of artists succeeded in: To make music that exactly reflect the Zeitgeist and invites the listeners to play one’s part in making this world a little bit better. “I have received a lot during my life”, says Fetsum. “Now it’s time to give back a lot”. This EP is certainly not the last thing we will receive as a gift from him in the near future.
