Seeing them multiply projects on their Black Eye and Makafresh labels, we had almost forgotten the original mission Makasound had set itself: to dust off sometimes little-known oldies and give them fresh exposure by reissuing them. Merger is one of those groups whose past deserves a second reading, a new relevance. The three members, Barry Ford, Michael Dan and Winston Bennett, gifted multi-instrumentalists, dropped a real pearl in 1977 before each dissolving into solo projects. At a time when the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, was stripping down English-style socialism, "Exiles in Babylon" celebrates the fusion ("merger", in English) of influences: reggae, punk, blues, jazz...
More than the lyrics and the themes developed, which are classic (praise of Jah and nature, faith in youth, denunciation of the system), it is above all the compositions that strike, most of them long. The finely chiselled arrangements are striking from the outset on the opening Understanding, with its acoustic guitar riffs and flights of flute. A musical richness that contributes to the album's modernity, as the many successes show: the title track Exiles in Babylon, the bucolic Waterfalls, the very serious 77 and Ghetto Child... Makasound adds two tracks to the original record, recorded in Jamaica: Rebel (recorded at Harry J Studio in 1980) and Freedom Fighters. On its release in 1977, "Exiles in Babylon" went largely unnoticed; here is an injustice put right.
