Isn’t Irene Ntale the hottest female property on the airwaves today? Okay, let’s not engage in that drivel. She is as talented as she is beautiful armed with a robust voice that escapes her throat and grips hearts. It was evident in her new Ono Omwaana track. Irene, ever since she joined the celebrated Swangz Avenue label, has gone to the races. She went mainstream, breaking away from the chains of live music that she had found solace in a couple of moons ago. And Ono Omwaana is cut out from the same cloth of the new path she took.
It is a typical dancehall tune. However, her smooth voice disappears in the high tempo instrumentation. If you knew a chanteuse that hummed to renditions of other music icons at different highbrow hotels, then you might not figure out who is on this track. But, to her credit, this brings to the fore her ability to be flexible and go to the extremes. She changed genres and she seemed comfortable in shouting her diaphragm out. It was a wonderful path trudged by the brave. Ono Omwaana seeks comfort on a good set-up beat; something you would expect from Swangz Avenue, really. It is a lamentation of a love-struck bird wailing for her main rib. It was an outcry for a love itch. It is not only a dancehall track, it borders on romance. But then again, this sort of cements that our Irene Ntale, her of the soothing vocals, has long found home in her new genre of music, her new adventure. She is held captive therein. Isn’t it what music consumers want? Well, who knows? Whatever they want, Ono Omwaana remains an alright song. Kudos, girl!
Listen to Ono Omwana here.
Reviewed by Nimusiima