Onika Venus is Back with a Midnight Remedy

Unbelievably two years have nearly passed since Onika Venus gave me a convenient excuse to poke my nose into what Sheer’s Kieran was doing up at Trowbridge Town Hall. Billed as reggae, arm twisted, I took a listen to the debut album, and have been infatuated since; now, we have a follow-up…..

Because while the term roots is bounded around within reggae music, progression never levels, and retrospection rarely arises, save perhaps within the skinhead/scooter culture. Contemporary reggae strives forward endlessly, millennial slackness dancehall has waned to charter a reunion with RnB, and this is where Onika fills a gap on the UK scene.

But there was more in the melting pot than met the eye, yes, Onika has a sublime voice, rich with Jamaican heritage, but her marriage to Mark, with a penchant for Americana roots meant the debut album, Everything You Are, stretched back into an association with country music not seen since roots reggae days of yore. Though the album is best described as experimental as opposed to retrospective. Still, those tracks serving a Jamaican offbeat were likely the most memorable.

So, I’m content the follow-up Midnight Remedy, released today (7th July) bursts straight into a reggae riff. Turn it Up is bold and brassy, this element breathing a subtle nod to rock steady. Thumbs up so far for pulling off the tricky sequel, for if it rides this train it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

This rock steady riff does continue for the following tune, Who’s Sleeping in my Bed? Topically, it reminds me of the Dawn Penn classic Are You There? With an air of “nah fuss” jollity within it, this is best classed as sunshine reggae; if someone else is sleeping in her bed, she’s not going to let it rain on her parade.

With a broken love theme, Faded Rose still rides a more tenuous offbeat, but this cleverly placed RnB element, which we saw in the debut album, comes back into play and we’re off, stirring the melting pot, equally as refined as the debut album.

Not long to wait to return to rock steady, though with a chatty dancehall vocal placement, and a one drop riddim, the title track Midnight Remedy, chants on the groove, probably the most beguiling yet, especially when that hammond organ plays it to fade; boss reggae gets some attention and I’m smitten.

Heart in a Bubble carries on from the good work of Midnight Remedy, blossoming romance is a tried and tested subject for the rock steady style, arguably the most creative period of the Jamaican recording industry, and this salutes such output.

Gravity, though, is the most experimental yet. Blues by any critic’s pigeonhole, in mood and sound, offering a welcomed darker side to Onika. The offbeat returns for a topically rainy day blues again with Teardrops, only to be proceeded with Something’s Gonna Break, a ballad with a fair slice of eighties-fashioned stanzas, and sax solo. Save Whitney, vocally superior, though, to said pop hits, this drifts along sublimely.

There’s pressures of lockdown themes, with electronica undertones in an eighties soundclash style, but retaining the silkiness of Onika’s house style, followed by a chugging train-themed soul smoothie, aptly Runaway Train. And the finale sees us back with these hints of eighties power ballad again, but whatever the flava, this is one absolutely beautiful album, soulful and uplifting throughout, truly a welcome return for Onika and her proficient band; melancholic when required, bouncy and joyful otherwise, but always wrapped in this most wonderous rich voice it couldn’t be anything less than a winner!

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