Super review by Cal Gibson, of The Secret Soul Society.

Here we are then, hurtling blindly towards another year, still seemingly unable or unwilling to live peacefully side by side, still happy (some of us anyway) to let loose missiles, bombs, bullets, you name it – anything that can tear flesh apart and maim and destroy. Happy holidays, right? Peace and good will to all, yeah?

In the UK the courts are handing down long jail sentences to protesters who are, hang on a minute, protesting against the imminent destruction of the planet. How dare they? Lock those dangerous crazies up! Imagine wanting to protect our beautiful biosphere. The cheek of it! Haven’t they heard that global capitalism is locked into an unstoppable death spiral? Over in the U.S. the orange-hued ego rises again and civil war edges closer. China’s eyeing up Taiwan, Putin’s still sick and twisted, Gaza gets depopulated, the killings go on, and go on, and go on, and go on.

Where to turn for comfort, for succour, for respite from this blasted madness? To art, of course, to creation and all its wonderful avenues. To joy and movement and the simple happiness of a soothing melody. To Sheila and Des Malek and a repress for their rather lovely ecological cry for help Green Leaves.

Consisting of six twinkling slices of eco-reggae given an African twist it put me in mind of Roy Ayers’ classic hook-up with Fela 2000 Black, albeit slowed right down, and pumped full of save the planet vibes. Korup Forest (In Africa), for example, plays out as a slow-mo celebration of conservation: ‘so the lion can roar and the monkey can swing….and the world can breathe….in Africa.’ Originally released in 1989, time has only made the message even more potent: you’re either trying to save the planet or you’re standing by watching the whole shebang go down the pan. Your choice, brothers and sisters.

Sheila and Des break it down over the groove: how the forests are the lungs of the world: ‘we’ve got to conserve flora and fauna….we’ve got to protect wildlife species’ they chant, and you want it on loop in every politico’s office in every city worldwide. Stop the killing and start the love revolution, essentially. It’s not a new ethos but it sure as hell is the right one.

Soundway are doing the proper thing with profits going to the Nigerian Conservation Fund (as with the original release): Mother Nature drops you right into the heart of the matter: ‘looking for a solution…there’s no delaying –  Mother Nature’s saying….’ with a sweet little skank that’s soft in tone and deep in message.

The title track again gives thanks to the trees and ‘all those green green leaves, so you and I can breathe’: it really is that simple. Tearing down the forests is symptomatic of humanity that has gone astray: our lust for possessions and wealth and comfort ends up with a denuded planet, a scorched earth policy that’s as fucked up as buying an SUV. Yeah, the planet’s fucked but look how big my car is….

It may all be in vain of course, whistling to keep up appearances while all arounds us burns, but the more we come together and broadcast our despair then maybe, just maybe, we can turn away from the headlong rush to apocalypse. Sheila and Des knew it in 1989, we know it so much more today. This is a beautiful package of important voices singing eternal truths: get with the programme before it’s too late.

Shelia & Des Majek`s Green Leaves is out now, on Soundway.