Album review: Jah Mason extols the natural life on "Love and Wisdom"

One of the more unassuming members of the roots reggae camp, Manchesterian and proud "farmer" Jah Mason reaches the point of elder statesman with this, his 19th (or20th, depending on where you look) full-length disc. While undoubtedly older and arguably wiser, the "Princess Gone" star has not, thankfully, become quieter,  and his wisdom is "tempered" by a fair level of indignation.

That anger and concern comes through on a three-song stretch just past the mid-point of this 16-track production, released on the US-based New Creations label. "From Wah Day"  and Trouble on Your Shoulder" address the age-old Rasta burden of State corruption in refreshing ways, while "Every Likkle Mek A Mukkle" adapts the age-old Jamaican folk saying to advocate for self-reliance and the concentration of economic power to lift communities.

the stridency is a neat counterpoint to the songs of love and experience that start the disc off, following the almost obligatory repeat of his signature hit "Princess Gone", done here in a stripped down remix. "Baby Come Back Home" Cant Get You Off My Mind" and "Girl You Know You Are" follow in quick succession.

Elsewhere, there are other tracks that follow now familiar rubrics; "Cant Stop The Herbs" while as self-explanatory as they come, now has renewed relevance in Jamaica's still evolving post-Prohibition marijuana culture. "Can You Feel My Pain" is the standard sufferers' anthem, while "Polluting the System" continues the worthy advocacy of "grow what you eat" that has been the hallmark of Rasta ideology from the get-go.

What takes these tracks out the realm of the all-too-familiar is Mason's trademark delivery; by turns sly, compassionate, sardonic and carefree, he infuses the tracks with an unforced energy and the production, while uniformly excellent, is deliberately unobtrusive, resolutely in service of an artist who is clear, confident and fully engaged in the task at hand.

Love and Wisdom then, puts Jah Mason squarely in the company of acts who deliver on expectations, definitely not a bad thing in an increasingly uncertain world.