Fancy Fingers – Father Studies
Inspired by the pandemic, Sauti Sol announced an “Alone-Together” chapter of their journey as one of the continent’s leading bands, and Polycarp’s first solo offering–as Fancy Fingers–is themed around his child. Father Studies is the telling of a soulful family affair, a chronicling of a boy-meets-girl story and an anticipated happily-ever-after sequel to this East African romance, now that their first child is in the mix. A cocktail of guitar solos, baby coos, jingle bells and polyrhythms from both Afropop and rhumba, the album is an ode to Black fatherhood, a promissory note from an African father basking in the euphoria of his first child. Polycarp waxes emotional, surging past “Daddy Issues”, making promises to forge a bond and offering prayers across the album. Longtime Sauti Sol collaborators Dela and Nyashinski turn up with stellar guest verses too, because in Africa, it takes a community to raise a child.