That rarity where a love song is intimate and expansive, as though that song was written in the lowest acoustic venues but requires the richness of a good band, is captured in Wingman by Fiona Amaka. Amaka has collaborated with vocalist, producer, and guitarist David Taro in London to produce something that is respectful of its bare-bones roots and is also able to embrace the texture and the warmth of studio work.
The guitar work in the track is jangling and echoing at once to create a retro indie sensibility that has an artificial nostalgia without feeling derivative. The emotional impact of Amaka is performed with very minimal effort, and her bluesy voice gives depth to what might have been a mere statement of love. Rather, Wingman is enhanced, coated with the harmonies and even other vocal lines which Taro could clearly hear cowering in the undertones. The net effect is a song that seems to have been inhabited, like the arrangement developed by default, by dialogue and creative confidence.
The peculiar feature of the approach of Amaka is that she manages to combine rock, blues, and folk music without attaching her to one identity. In her touchpoints, whether it be Stevie Nicks or Smashing Pumpkins, she can be seen as not being imitative but rather in how she manages to find a balance between moving energy and introspection. Wingman is in its comfort zone, and it is very soulful, which does not drive people away but welcomes them.
The organic nature of the song, the progression it takes, starting with acoustic shows and then into studio work, is a message to Amaka that she can sense when a song requires something more than she originally intended. Collaboration occasionally entails a compromise on one side and in the case of Wingman, compromise fortified instead of watering down artistic vision.
To the ones who find out about Fiona Amaka and her rock'n'soul sound with her latest releases, Wingman is a preview of an artist who realizes that love songs should not be easy to be sentimental, and that there are occasions when the best sounds are ones that are discovered coming out of nowhere.
