If we don't count 2015's 'Dub Showcase At Ariwa' EP, the last time Luciano presented his fans with a new long player was with 2014's 'Zion Awake'. For 'The Answer', The Messenger teamed up with German Oneness Records (Moritz von Korff and Benjamin Zecher - production, and Umberto Echo - mixing and mastering).
The resulting album is pure German craftsmanship, and a joy to listen to from start to finish. The track list includes duets with Iba Mahr ('The Victory'), Jesse Royal (opener 'The Music') and Jahcoustix (closing track 'Stronger'), but our personal favorite was 'Use Jah Words', a combination tune with Runkus (a song that in its original version, without Runkus, already dates back to 2007 and was Luciano's version over the Oneness riddim).
Elsewhere the gentlemen of Oneness recycled some of their more recent riddim creations, like for the aforementioned duet with Jesse Royal, 'The Music', a version over the Bambu riddim we still remembered from Lutan Fyah's 'Gone Too Far' or Mark Wonder & Crosby's 'Voyages Across The Sea' and of course Ras Muhamad's 'Bambu Keras', 'Take Me To The Place' (Mark Wonder's 'Voices Of The People', Lutan Fyah's 'She Got Stoned'), 'Build A Better Land' (Mark Wonder's 'Nubian Glory', 'I Wonder' (Lutan Fyah's 'Strange Things'), and finally 'The Answer', Luciano's answer to Mark Wonder's 'Brand New Me'.
In any case, a Luciano in top form in combination with Oneness Records, results in pure reggae gold... Rewind and come again!