AMARAH RAY JONES
Amarah Ray Jones | Defiant soul stepper sounds
Amarah stepped from the streets into DarkArc and laid down the law. From in-demand backing singer in hometown Kingston, to centre stage in Florence — uncompromising, wicked and on-point, she takes the 60s stepper vibe and lights it on fire.
Dark tales of Bonnie & Clyde gangsters, poems of defiance and heart felt dub poetry for peace, she runs all the channels her way.
She is living her best #firenzesonic life.
“It’s not confrontational, it’s not violent, it doesn’t endorse aggressions, it’s just the way it is. It’s a report, not a manifesto”
Transmit 2. A R Jones
Amarah’s studio work treats sound-system culture not as legacy preservation, but as a site for intense, cinematic reconstruction. There is an undeniable Lee "Scratch" Perry electronic influence lingering in her heavy use of spring re-verbs and spatial manipulation, but the atmosphere is dragged entirely into sub-zero-hertz territory.
In-house production team darkStylus love working on her material. “They idolise all that Black Arc mix-desk voodoo,” says label chief Mujiki, “they even called the studio DarkArc to honour the master mixer Lee Perry and Amarah plugs right into the roots of that sound and pumps it up with modern vibes. So when they team up, the gnarlier the guitar pedal, the boomier the echo, the happier they are.”
“Florence is a historic creative furnace so it figures I might end up here” adds Amarah.
“I bring a lot of the ska, stepper, dub ideas over in my laptop, and didn’t know if I would meet my soul mates. But The Tapes? They so into it all you know? It means I know my voice will carry, I can always push the sounds to be harder, leaner, meaner.
“It gets scary sometimes, but that’s maybe the point. I ask Mujiki when we met, what The Tapes philosophy and she said ‘FirenzeSonic’, I ask her what that mean, and she say it was up to me to determine what my part of it was. So let’s see where this journey goes.”
/ come you rich, hear a story poor / from I pockets, there is no more
/ come you rich, hear a story poor / from I pockets, there is no more
Y’Catch On T’Me
#DarkArc 002
Amarah is at her wicked best, as darkStylus twist up classic roots and dub sounds, she unfurls a siren call for an accomplice in a murderous crime spree. “If I say Bonnie, will you say Clyde?” she purrs, and irresistible call to arms even though you know will end in a hail of bullets and blood.
“Rev up them engines, and pay your toll to me,
Lock one in the chamber, and we shall see what we see”
It’s a wild ride alright.
So you all got some soul and you feel to be free
Cast off them chains and catch on to me
If you feel for your soul and you’d see it set free
Bust out them chains and come catch me
i Follow i
#DarkArc 011
A heartfelt dub tune, half call back to 60’s soul-steeper sounds and half statement of re discovering faith. Amarah’s lyrics are based on an old poem discovered in her teen bedroom dressing table.
The sound of a profound realisation and commitment to a meaningful life, it’s slow sling rhythm is a soothing balm and contrast to her often ferocious polemic.
“Keep me keeping on, I am the daughter of the Sun” she sings at the start. Yes, yes she is.
So that sad story mine, come to an end
Where I found enemy, I learn to find friend
For inspiration a message I send
A heart that fall apart can soon be mend
Thanks our sister creative agency FugaceFugace for the photo shoot and artwork for this dub release in collaboration for bass-bin monstahs Overproof Sound Systems
oscillators
check out the creator engines of The Datura Tapes
