Abi_Vibe Lets The Instruments Speak On ‘Sensational’

Abimbola Olamide Ekeolere, professionally known as Abi_Vibe, lets melody, percussion and horns carry the emotional weight of the three-track instrumental EP Sensational.

Listen to Sensational

There are no vocals on Sensational, but after a while, you stop noticing. Across three tracks, Abi_Vibe relies on piano, percussion, horns and heavy drums to communicate moods that would ordinarily be left to a singer. The melodies carry their own language. Sometimes they sound reassuring, sometimes restless, and sometimes they simply want you to move.

“Get To You” opens the project softly. Piano and light drums settle into a jazz-leaning arrangement that initially feels almost weightless. The song gradually rises from that quiet beginning, however, and there is something hopeful in the way the melody develops. The piano does most of the emotional work here. Its notes are sweet and calming, repeating with the assurance of somebody reminding you that things will eventually work out.

“Steady” is the project’s biggest change of pace. It jumps out almost immediately, opening with a vocal-like ad-lib before trumpets, piano and a much heavier bassline take over. There is a touch of disco and house music in the rhythm. The trumpets are bright, the drums hit hard, yet neither one overwhelms the other. Instead, they meet somewhere in the middle and push the track forward.

Then “Diligent” brings Amapiano into the picture. It begins with curious piano notes before the drums arrive and completely change the mood. From there, the record becomes electronic, energetic and easy to imagine in a club mix. The percussion is heavy, but there is still enough melody running through it to stop the song from becoming purely functional dance music.

That range is what gives Sensational its personality. In three songs,…