Kokoroko – Just Can’t Wait

Kokoroko deliver ‘Just Can’t Wait’, a six-minute meditation on the curious alchemy of turning longing into satisfaction. The London ensemble has crafted what vocalist Sheila Maurice-Grey describes as “a song with a congregational feeling for the steppers”.

The track is the latest preview from their sophomore album, Tuff Times Never Last, which will be released on July 11th. This offering operates under the premise that emotional turbulence eventually transforms into triumph, a theory they test through an intricate blend of Brit-funk grooves, 1980s jazz-funk textures, and West African rhythms. Guitarist Tobi Adenaike anchors these disparate elements with melodic riffs that make the experiment cohesive.

Maurice-Grey’s alto carries the narrative weight, opening with lines about waiting “for the night that we could step again” – a sentiment that captures the peculiar mathematics of reconciliation. Her vocal approach suggests someone who has learned patience the hard way and is now surprised by its eventual payoff. She cites Tom Browne’s ‘Funkin’ for Jamaica (N.Y.)’ as inspiration for the horn arrangements, which punctuate the track with celebratory flourishes.

The production draws from what the band calls “a vast pot of influences,” incorporating everything from Ghanaian highlife to Congolese soukous alongside more familiar territory like Loose Ends and Don Blackman. This musical multiculturalism serves their vision of renewal through reconnection – the idea that healing requires collecting scattered pieces from various sources.

The artwork by Luci Pina embeds their “ode to London in the summer”.