KT Tunstall with a touch of Africa?

Josephine Oniyama releases her new EP, 'In The Labyrinth', consisting of 4 tracks. The only way I could honestly sum Josephine Oniyama up is to imagine KT Tunstall combined with some typical African beats and riffs. It is certainly a unique style, and provides promising hopes for the future.

Josephine Oniyama includes a lot of fast-paced beats in her music, making it very excitable to dance to. 'In The Labyrinth' also consists of a lot of bouncy, country-style acoustic guitar, particularly in the first track "Closer". The melodic piano also fits seemingly well with the simple, but well performed vocals. The final positive thing to point out is the use of the shakers in much of 'In The Labyrinth', particularly in the song "Pepper Shaker", which may have some hint of irony in the title! This helps to make Josephine Oniyama's music enjoyable, as the simple shaker beat makes it easy to clap or click along with.

To pick up on a negative, all 4 songs on 'In The Labyrinth' sound very similar to one another, so once you've heard one of them, you've kind of heard them all. Not that I'm against an artist's music sounding similar and together, but I feel Josephine Oniyama needs to differ her music more than she does. I can also see this music fading out of fashion pretty quickly. It is likeable at first, but it isn't going to be long before something better comes along - there is a risk that Josephine Oniyama may be the next one hit wonder.

Having said that, while I think Josephine Oniyama may be a one hit wonder, I hope I am wrong because I would like to see what music she can produce in the future.

http://www.myspace.com/josephineoniyama