What do you get when a Ghanaian-Australian multi-instrumentalist and a South African-Australian hip hop producer join forces over a shared love of raw ’70s African grooves?
You get Spiritual War — a swirling, defiant and totally wild new EP from Immy Owusu and Sensible J, dropping via Hopestreet Recordings on Friday 16 May.
This is no chill Sunday afternoon listen. Spiritual War is a riotous ride through psych, afrobeat, funk and protest music — a record made for the strange, burning house of a world we’re currently stuck in. Inspired heavily by Zamrock (think Witch, Amanaz, and other Zambian psych-rock icons of the ’70s), the EP blends gritty rhythms with socially charged storytelling and a healthy splash of spiritual defiance.
Spiritual War
- Release date: Friday 16 may
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Recorded in Sensible J’s legendary House of Beige studio, the project is as collaborative as it is personal. Immy handles vocals, guitar, percussion (and yep, recorder), while J supplies the drums, bass and keys. Add in guest vocals from Aotearoa rapper Mazbou Q and Immy’s spiritual aunty Kuukua Aquah singing in Twi, and you’ve got something that feels raw, global and rooted all at once.
The title track ‘Spiritual War’ sets the tone with pounding drums and lyrical fire — it’s about the battle between the human spirit and the rot of modern life, while also throwing pointed shade at the West’s long-standing interference in Africa’s liberation movements. It’s big. It’s bold. It slaps.
Then there’s “Doom Elevator”, a track that literally sounds like the walls are closing in. Written from a dream where Immy’s house (aka his own body) is collapsing, it’s the sound of existential dread set to a psychedelic groove — relatable, right?
The mood lightens with ‘Curly Hair’, a bouncy highlife jam about standing out in a world that wants you to blend in, and ‘Figure It Out’, which floats dreamily above the chaos with falsetto vocals and lush, ambient layers.
The EP closes with a drumless version of the title track — a moment of stillness after the sonic storm. It’s a reminder that even in spiritual war, rest is resistance.
Immy met Sensible J by chance during a trip to Section 8 in Melbourne — J was DJing everything from The Funkees to Cymande, and a creative spark lit instantly. “He was a dream producer of mine to work with ever since I became familiar with his work through Sampa the Great and Remi,” says Immy.
With nods to Talking Heads, Sepultura, and traditional African rhythms, Spiritual War doesn’t sit neatly in one box. And that’s the point. It’s genre-fluid, politically charged, and deeply personal — the kind of record that hits you in the chest and makes you want to move, think, and maybe scream into the void for a second.
If you’re into high-energy funk with something to say — or you just want to hear what happens when two of Australia’s most forward-thinking artists tap into their roots — this EP needs to be on your radar.
