It's been a circuitous route to triple- Grammy- winning success for Xavier Dphrepaulezz, aka Fantastic Negrito. Now 55, he signed a record deal with Interscope in 1993. A near-fatal car crash six years later almost derailed his career, then came the creative reinvention that began with his 2016 album The Last Days Of Oakland.
Grandfather Courage, an acoustic reimagining of 2022's acclaimed White Jesus Black Problems recorded with his touring band, re-tells the story of the love affair between his seventh-generation Scottish grandmother and African- American grandfather in 1750s Virginia.
Oh Betty is the biggest benefactor from this stripped- back approach, its feverish howl of anguish ever more potent as a rootsy funk lament. Highest Bidder is recalibrated as swampy blues. If the reduction of his anything- goes sonic palette sometimes comes at the cost of his eclecticism - the wacko disco groove of Trudoo replaced by a brush-assisted shuffle - it's still an intriguing stop-gap on a fascinating journey.
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