This month’s listening picks from the Caribbean — featuring reviews by Nigel Campbell of new music by Roël Calister; Destra x MadLypso; Reo x Nessa Preppy; and Hey Choppi x Voice
Roël Calister
The Work of Songs (Jiga Musica)
The blurb for this album describes the new record by the Curaçao-born master percussionist as “an immersive album masterfully blending the fiery rhythms of Afro-Curaçaoan drums with melancholic strings and modern sonic influences”. You hear the retention of the African rhythms and the roots of the original syncretised music of the island, tumba, along with the retained Antillean danzas and mazurkas of the Dutch Caribbean. Tambú drums and the improvised percussion of enslaved Africans — the agan (a piece of iron or ploughshare); the chapi (a hoe); and the bastèl (a large calabash) — support songs sung in English and the native Papiamentu that survey a broad range of island originals and traditional covers, allowing this album to engage with a wider audience. The juxtaposition of the strings, piano, drums and percussion is a delicious exploration for listeners seeking a broader Caribbean music experience.
Destra x MadLypso
Free Again (Lypso Music) • Single
The Queen of Bacchanal is back with a bang for T&T Carnival after taking a soca sabbatical in 2025 and adding to her gospel repertoire. This song sounds like an honest confessional and a sonic bridge between the two genres as she reveals what was a high-pressure situation with minimum returns: Sometimes I’m hurting / While I’m putting on a smile for y’all / Don’t know the meaning or the reason / That ah working more, ah craving more / I’m all in the fete and ah waving more / I’m doing more and I still want more. She turns to her God and lets us know that the Devil in ah real problem. With a more than 25-year career, Destra reveals human frailties — but her superhuman voice gives this tune an anthemic quality that can move this track beyond the narrow Carnival silo to glory. Super producers MadLypso have crafted an earworm that echoes a kind of groovy psychedelic vibe to delight island ears — and move island feet. Welcome back, Queen!
Reo x Nessa Preppy
Dotish Love (Reo Music Ent.) • Single
When a couple breaks up, it can be amicable, or it can be nasty. This is nasty, with hints of regret that turn to unfulfilled desire. A conversation between ex-lovers turns into an argument, in which listeners can take sides. Bouyon music of Reo’s native Dominica drives the song as an invitation to dance and sing along. Nessa sings: You say it’s a shame it never lasted / Wishing I could take you back / No, I don’t want to feel like that no more, no more. Meanwhile, Reo responds: I just take a straight shot of Hennessey / I was blind in love, but now I can see… / I so glad I’m not under your spell no more, no more. He is adamant and raw in his feelings as we, like voyeurs, see and hear a relationship unravel. Caribbean machismo versus female pragmatism allows for her recall of his yearning and her reckoning that this ship has run its course. Love can make you dotish, but with this song’s vibe, maybe that’s not a bad thing. Island love is a movie, as they say.
Hey Choppi x Voice
In We Veins (Monk Music/Alienation Muzik) • Single
Much Carnival music is increasingly moving towards the generic sameness of unprompted artificial intelligence creations. However, this track veers towards a space that sees fusion with pop genres and collaboration between peers as more important than conformity. Island pop chameleon Hey Choppi links with multi-winning Soca Monarch Voice to unleash a spirited ode to this festival and tribute to how people make the mas magnificent. When the spirits start move me / We go need more than Monday / We go need more than Tuesday / This road know my secrets / This road know my pain. The unlimited and intangible joy of the masquerader is fuelled by music like this jam, which churns happily along at a BPM rate that could invite mayhem on Carnival stages everywhere. The teamwork from a new generation of stars, and the combination of these two voices, point to an increasingly satisfying trend of modern soca. Twin wins.