KINGDOM SOLDIER RELEASES”THE WATCHMAN”

From St Lucia, here comes singer, songwriter and producer Kingdom Soldier (Lenny Deneb) with his third album entitled The Watchman. Due for release at the beginning of September this will be his third studio album and it reveals his thoughtful and religious inspiration throughout. Lenny says: “the Watchman album was inspired in me to write songs that hopefully encourage those who are searching for ‘peace’. In my youth singers such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Culture and Gregory Isaacs inspired me and helped me to cope with life’s journey. Therefore the Watchman album is for people like me when I was struggling with life issues such as loss, drugs, unemployment, religion, lack of family support, police harassment and such likes”.

‘The Watchman’ reflects aspects of the singer’s life and experiences, some individual and personal, others based on observations drawn from his work with young people and families going through their own difficulties. In addition to his music, Lenny has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Caribbean Collective Organization (ECCO) in St. Lucia and has helped to develop young St. Lucian artists such as Coldsweat, Sherwin ‘Dupes’ Brice and Lateefah.

At the age of ten years Lenny left St. Lucia for England. He later co-founded the reggae band Cygnus who recorded for Greensleeves Records and attracted considerable positive attention. As a solo singer, Lenny released three songs in 1985 for his own LED Records namely ‘Mustique Girl’ (later appearing on the album ‘From the Sanctuary’ as Lucian Girl), Soldiers and the third single ‘Who or what turns you on’ which made record of the week in the Echoes music paper. During the 1990s he worked, under the alias of Zouk Doctor, as a freelance music reviewer and was also the first zouk disc jockey on a London community radio station (Reflections Radio 96.9FM). The peak of the band’s career came in early 1980 when Cygnus appeared on live French TV with no less than Jimmy Cliff.

This fine pedigree is certainly reflected in a track like ‘Under Your Wings’ from the new Watchman album, with its melancholy sentiment, insistent rhythm and excellent production. The album begins with ‘Train to Zion’, with its spiritual message and firm reggae beat. ‘Murderers Gangsters and Thieves’ updates the powerful message of ‘Police and Thieves’ from so many years ago. ‘Love of the Most High’ has a strong repetitive rhythm and melody, building to a powerful conclusion. The album closes with ‘Where Will You Go From Here’, posing questions for us all and including some fine contemporary guitar sounds. The album consists of twelve carefully-crafted and spiritually-inspired tracks that all lovers of reggae music should hear.

Kingdom Soldier: the Watchman: release September 2020

This article is reproduced with the kind permission of John Fenwick at https://reggaemusic.org.uk/2020/06/01/kingdom-soldier-the-watchman/