Setting aside his appearance on Gentleman's Dub Club's 2015 album 'The Big Smoke', 'The Divine Trinity' is actually our first introduction to the work of Alexander Akiloe Philip Modiano aka Natty. Yet, this latest release already marks the British artist's fourth album.
By Jah Rebel
Natty, of Italian-Lesothian heritage, was born in San Francisco, but his family moved to London shortly after his birth. There, he grew up immersed in his father’s music, an amateur of folk heroes like Bob Dylan and Neil Young, and his mother’s love of Motown, sixties Jamaican music and Afrobeat.
Natty’s first steps in the music world were as a sound engineer in a London studio, but soon enough, his own talent was spotted. He was signed to Atlantic Records, and his debut album, ‘Man Like I’, reached the top of the UK charts in 2008, gaining the attention of Jools Holland and earning him a spot on ‘Later… with Jools Holland’.
His 2016 album ‘Release The Fear’, preceding ‘The Divine Trinity’, was followed by a significant life shift: Natty moved to Jamaica, where he and his family chose a rural, off-grid lifestyle, focusing on self-sustainability. Natty: “I’m living a whole new life, taking things slower and making more space for inspiration to flow. That’s all worked its way into the music, which I’m now making with a renewed purpose of healing through sound.”.
Some eye-opening experiences during the ‘Release The Fear’ tour also set Natty on a new musical path: “Two things happened on the tour for that album that really showed me the healing potential of music. We had one gig where a person who had been in a wheelchair for years got up and started dancing, which was really emotional. Not long after that a woman came up to me a at another show to tell me that my song ‘I’m Alive’ convinced her not to end her own life. It really made me see how much music can affect people on a fundamental level!”.
Determined to explore the power of sound healing further, Natty immersed himself in disciplines utilized in healing and therapy. He journeyed to the Amazon to study sound alchemy, delved into Ayurveda and the wisdom of the Siddha scriptures, and explored the spiritual practice of Nyahbinghi chanting as well as Sangoma healing traditions.
Natty explains: “I’m on a mission to show my listeners what sound can do! From our cells to our souls, I want to take everyone along on this incredible journey. There’s so much on this record I’ve never done before. We have a song in 5/4 inspired by my time studying music in Zimbabwe, sound bowls, cricket song from the land we live on in Jamaica, and hand drums from all over. It’s ancient frequencies combined with classic songwriting, inviting people to connect with the power of music.”.
When ‘Man Like I’ was released, The Telegraph still described Natty as a “soul-reggae crossover sensation”, so labelling ‘The Divine Trinity’ as a traditional reggae album would miss the mark entirely.
Broadly speaking, the track list can be divided into three thematic sections, each comprising three songs. Opener ‘Mountains’ and ‘Spirit Woman’ highlight men, women, and children, ‘Move Like Water’ and ‘Hurt Not The Earth’ focus on elements such as earth, air, water, and fire, while tracks like ‘Free Your Mind’ and ‘Open Up Your Heart’ dive into the realms of heart, mind and soul. It all seems to coalesce in the lyrics of Fyahman, a track that stylistically evokes the sound of African Head Charge:
Lightning and thunder
Lightning and thunder
Lightning and thunder inna my hand
Lightning and thunder
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
When I rose this morning
Give thanks for life
Almighty name I be calling
Only Jah knows this livity I’m all in
No time for drinky dread
No gallis and no ballin’
Clean your heart
Cleanse your soul
Listen to your conscience
Let it grow
And it shall set you free
Burn away negativity
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
Ooo fiyah man
Lighting and thunder inna my hand
I & I will never bow down to no…
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
Ooo fiyah man
Lighting and thunder inna my hand
I & I will never bow down to no…
It’s the energy
Man you can’t let go me
Fiyah blaze
Fiyah blaze
Jah Jah knows that’s the remedy
Now you see in these days they just cast him out
They call him crazy they call him a clown
Now he’s chilling in the hills
The only time you wanna see him is when you’re tired of the pills
So you say you’re going to change it from within
I’m outside lighting molotovs
Done listening to post-colonial rhetoric hypocrites
Fire blaze is how we fixing it
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
Ooo fiyah man
Lighting and thunder inna my hand
I & I will never bow down to no…
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
Fiyah man
Ooo fiyah man
Lighting and thunder inna my hand
I & I will never bow down to no…
It’s the energy
Man she can’t leggo me
Fiyah blaze
Fiyah blaze in the wicked man face check the melody
And I got the remedy
Man you can’t leggo me fiyah blaze
Fiyah blaze in the wicked man face man don’t you see
Fiyah man
We’re certainly no purists, but on ‘The Divine Trinity’ we still gravitated most to reggae flavoured tracks like ‘Ascension’ and the delightful ‘Free Your Mind’. The album also includes one cover version, as ‘Hurt Not The Earth’ was originally recorded by Little Roy, who makes an appearance here alongside Rasites.
Purists may want to sit this one out, but for those with a more eclectic musical palate, The Divine Trinity comes highly recommended!
Founder alongside Jah Shakespear who transitioned to this role in late 2014. Previously worked as critic and reporter, balancing passions for music and Haile Selassie spirituality.
November 3, 2024