Beating Heart is the latest single from singer-songwriter-guitarist Ssensamba (whose name is so good, you just have to say it twice). It was released to align itself with the Valentine's Day period, which seems to have been appropriate.

As is often the case with musicians who take the heart a little more seriously than most doctors do (and imagine it does more than ensure our circulator system is functioning), Ssensamba is something of an old soul. Because of this, he reaches out to a genre that seems to be losing its identity at an alarming rate, R &B, more often than not, and uses it to express his music.

https://youtu.be/YknuLo7Ixbk?si=Sc7inOg6b6w9-DE3

He does so on Beating Heart. The song is structured as an R & B guitar ballad, with the driving groove that is often the bedrock of this sub-genre of music.

The fact that he pulls it off is somewhat astonishing – he sounds like Uganda’s answer to Joe. The song reinforces its tie-in with that sub-genre with its psychedelic harmonies, echoed ad libs and synth riffs.

Then there’s that stereotypical rounded bass line that defined late 90’s R & B guitar ballads, the type of bass that I often felt was best generated via keyboard or through the use of an acoustic bass.

But what is probably the most striking aspect of the song is that it is bi-lingual – he performs it in English and Luganda, merging the languages seamlessly, without sounding contrived. 

Ssensamba may be Uganda’s only bona fide R &B artiste. Listening to Beating Heart is like attending an R &B masterclass, where the featured song is a plaintive, melancholic guitar ballad.