Capleton - Heights Of Fire (Evidence Music)

If we put that somewhat clichéd album title aside for a moment, we can only conclude that on 'Heights Of Fire', King Shango sounds as if he had never been away (and of course, he has remained a constant presence on the live circuit throughout the years).

'Heights Of Fire' features 16 tracks, produced by Derrick Sound, Little Lion Sound, Mista Savona, L'Entourloop and Mixing Finga (Michael Stewart, son of reggae artist Tinga Stewart).

The album opens with 'Red Again'. Original? Not exactly… Catchy? You'd better be sure of that!

The remix of 'Burn Dem Down' produced by French duo L'Entourloop (the original was Capleton's contribution over Derrick Sound's Hatafayabun riddim from 2015, and for the occasion L'Entourloop sampled fragments from 'L'Entourloupe', a 1980 French comedy film) already dates back to 2016.

Both 'In The Game' and 'Tired Of The Drama' are Derrick Sound productions that had already been released as singles in 2021 and 2024 respectively. 'Get Up & Fight', Capleton's contribution over the Sound Killer riddim (Little Lion Sound's reworking of the classic Drum Song riddim), naturally could not be missing from 'Heights Of Fire' either.

The track list also includes two combination tunes. 'So Evil' will immediately attract attention thanks to the presence of Damian and Stephen Marley, but this is actually closer to a hip-hop track than a reggae tune, and we also did not really understand the need to butcher a classic like Dennis Brown's 'Love & Hate' for the occasion. No, we much preferred 'Deh Pon Mi Mind', a duet with Eesah that would have deserved a place on his 'Success' album released last year.

But now we are really just nitpicking, because 'Heights Of Fire' is simply a rock-solid and highly enjoyable album featuring Capleton in absolute top form. More fire!