Veteran worship minister Nathaniel Bassey ushers in the new year with a soulful new tune named “Agbanilagbatan.” The Yoruba title means shelter, covering, someone who shelters and protects. Nathaniel Bassey constructs the entire record around that concept of a celestial shelter. This is a motif that goes over his library of worship music.
English lyrics don’t usually have the same weight as Yoruba devotion. Here Nathaniel Bassey is riding that legacy, letting the language itself carry spiritual weight. Older listeners, in particular, will appreciate the profundity behind such a title.
The instrumentation is classic, with talking drums laced thru delicate strings and a steady keyboard pad. The arrangement never hurries to a climax. Instead, the music builds up slowly, representing the patience that comes with genuine need on shelter. The remarks sound more like a personal confession than a public statement.
“Agbanilagbatan” succeeds as a whole because Nathaniel Bassey lets tradition lead the album instead of new tendencies. Nothing in the delivery is aiming for spectacle. But that root-ness is what makes the song endure.
Sit with “Agbanilagbatan” at those quiet moments when you need to be reminded where shelter comes from.
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