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Spiritual War

by Immy Owusu

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    Special 10" black vinyl of the 'Spiritual War' EP! Artwork hand drawn by Kano.

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We are going to hear some fine music We want to start the party What are we going to do About the curly hair? You know the one that I mean You know the one that I am speaking of my friends yes yes What are we going to do Going to do About the curly hair? Wo ya Woo ya oo Have you met the demon moved next door? (door) Walk barefoot no shoes on the floor (floor) In the driveway a ‘99 Rodeo (ooo) With a lion on fire spray painted on the trailer I said he better not bring trouble (trouble) Been living on this court in a 50 year bubble (bubble) My brother-in-law plays golf with the police constable (trouble) And I oh so subtle told him of our struggles yeah Better clutch your bag and think twice Knocking at your door with spicy red rice Though he may speak and talk very nice Linda won’t you please just take my advice And run for your life Ah ah ah ah yeah What are we going to do Going to do About the curly hair? You know the one that I mean You know the one that I’m speaking of yes yes What are we going to do Going to do About the curly hair? A woo ya ey A woo ya oo And a woo ya oo One is fine Two is trouble Three and I’m calling the police constable If you’re gonna have any of them here Best to have a mix You don't want too many in the same place yeah I don’t want any of that voodoo There must be something for us to do The priest thinks they’re stealing eucharist for black juju For the safety of this town yes I fear And I worry Don’t you? The one the one the one You know the one The young man with the curly hair my friend Never to be seen here again Ah yeah Ah yeah The one the one the one You know the one The young man with the curly hair my friend Never to be seen here again Never to be seen here again I smell it late at night Better not break into this house of mine I jump over the back fence To the garden Nothing to find Yet the smell drives me outta my mind Honestly I don’t feel safe Doesn’t he know it’s 1pm on a Wednesday In the shed blaring that ‘Bob Marley Hip Hop Metal Marijuana Music’ I can barely hear sky news it’s so intrusive Doesn’t he know that I have to get up at 6am to chainsaw and mow the lawn? Move them on Move them on Yeah get em out get em out get em out get em out What are we going to do about the curly hair? We are known everywhere Everybody deserves a great day Oooh it be a fine day oh With a serious vibe We are not going to break the mould today We are not going to break the mould today Bye bye my friend Never to be seen around here again We treated him so nice what’s he after Says he’s leaving town for the darker pastures Serious music Packing up and off he goes Leaving town and all that he knows And you I’m gonna miss my friend Now this small little town is so quiet again It’s a fine day The young man with the curly hair my friend Never to be seen here again Ah yeah Ah yeah We are going to continue our reputation The young man with the curly hair my friend Never to be seen here again Ah yeah Ah yeah Are you people ready? What are we going to do about the curly hair? The young man with the curly hair my friend Never to be seen here again Ah yeah Ah yeah It’s a fine day What are we going to do about the curly hair? The young man with the curly hair my friend Never to be seen here again Ah yeah Ah yeah
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about

Inspired by the Zamrock movement of the 1970s, Immy Owusu & Sensible J’s swirling psych/afro/funk EP ‘Spiritual War’ is a rowdy, boisterous selection of songs about injustice, insanity and the inanity of modern life in the burning house that is late capitalism. Owusu, a Ghanaian Australian singer and multi-instrumentalist bonded with South African Australian drummer, beatmaker and producer Sensible J (Sampa The Great, Cool Out Sun, Remi) over a shared love of the raw sounds of 70s African music, in particular Zamrock artists like Witch and Amanaz, and cooked up the EP in J’s iconic House Of Beige studio. Immy played guitar, percussion and miscellaneous instruments including the recorder as well as vocals while J provided drums, bass and keys and a roster of guests added vocals.

The title track kicks off with pumping drums and percussion. Spiritual War is a song about the worldwide war between the human spirit and apathy, decay and stagnation. It also rails against the West’s hand in the exploitation of Africa and likens today’s spiritual wars to the Pan African independence movement of the 1950’s where figures like Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah were targeted, deposed and exiled (or worse) by the CIA to destroy their vision of a unified African continent. Spiritual War also features Immy’s family friend and spiritual aunty Kuukua Aquah singing in Twi: ‘Berɛ na so’ (the time is coming) and features Aoteoroa rapper Mazbou Q on guest vocals.

Doom Elevator is another apocalypse jam, a song about “about a dream where I was in a house collapsing around me, but I couldn’t get out because the house was my own body.” A totally normal response to the elevating panic of living in a world going out of control with no way to get off the ride. Curly Hair is a bouncy piece of highlife with a banging beat about being the odd one out and Figure It Out is a dreamy escape from reality with falsetto vocals and spacious textures. Closing out the EP is a stripped back drumless edit of Spiritual War to give the listener some peace and rest.

Immy: “I met Sensible J on my first ever visit to Section 8 in Melbourne. He was spinning artists like The Funkees and Cymande, and up until that point in my young life living on the coast I had never met anyone interested in that kind of music. He was a dream producer of mine to work with ever since I became familiar with his work through Sampa the Great and Remi. We holed up in J’s studio ‘The House Of Beige’ in Somerville and started workshopping through a few ideas. While we were tracking through ideas we listened to highlife, Zamrock and afro-funk tracks with a little bit of Talking Heads and Sepultura mixed in.”

Spiritual War is released via Hopestreet Recordings on Friday 16th May.

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released May 16, 2025

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Immy Owusu Torquay, Australia

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