Track of the Week "Jump off a Cliff" comes out of the dark depths of Ghana’s underworld, with one of the most enigmatic acts yet to emerge from Accra’s burgeoning music scene. The ensemble is called Dark Suburb, and to this day the members refuse to disclose their identities, wearing masks at every one of their notably meticulous and eerily dramatic performances. Dubbed as Ghana’s first ever rock band, they’re steadily on the rise with their mix of dance-worthy ballads, all-original Ghanaian Afro-rock, pidgin phrasing and blazing guitars.
Lead vocalist The Priest warns us in husky tones to watch our steps when it comes to love - you never know when it’ll snatch your soul up. The track is easily anthemic and so addictive, with the arpeggiated guitars of Akan music fused with alternative rock reminiscent of the 1990s and 2000s. The lyrics takes a cheeky approach to what would happen should the lover's feelings not be returned, including symptoms of lovesickness akin to beriberi (a disease brought on by a Vitamin B-1 deficiency) such as loss of weight and appetite, emotional disturbances, impaired sensory perception, weakness and pain.
“I dey feel you feel you people no dey get it get it," The Priest sings. "If u no give me ur love I go get beriberi. Give me balance diet so gal I go get heavy heavy. You no see, oh the way I love you all ur friends dey envy envy. Oh dey critics gal I swear are getting many many. They don’t seem to understand the way I’m feeling feeling.”
The band’s mythology about its origins reveals their attitude to the mainstream music industry. Dark Suburb's members claim to have been “invoked back to life” by lead singer The Priest who, dissatisfied with the music industry at large, travelled to the underworld to seek worthy parties to rejoin the land of the living. The musicians he finds there form Dark Suburb, whose identities will be revealed so long as the living are willing to give over their energies by loving their music. Off the back of an arresting opening at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, the group is all set for a year of well-deserved fame following the release of its latest EP, The Awakening, that will hopefully realise their dreams of walking the Earth again.