Exclusive Listen: Island Head “Peace and One Love” (2024)

Island Head have been working hard on writing and recording more original vocal tunes. After the success of their debut instrumental album Punky Reggae Party the band decided to take a left turn. That album was comprised of six Bob Marley compositions and one original tune. Their next series of releases are all original vocal songs.

Island Head has received high praise from influencers within the reggae industry like Sirius/XM Program Director Pat McKay and legendary Jamaican broadcast journalist Dermot Hussey. According to McKay, “Island Head is an important project to reggae. It’s always great to have substantive, high art. This work contributes to reggae’s growth. Reminds others of what it really is and what is still possible. I feel so especially blessed to share this brilliant work with our audience.”

In my own review of Island Head’s debut album I declared the following:

“I can tell you this. These musicians can play. They not only know the songs inside and out, they feel this music. The authenticity of this album bled right through my Sennheisers, into my ears, and I felt these songs through and through. This is no Delixx take on Marley. It is different. It has a jazzy vibe to it. However, the strength of the songs, the talent of these musicians, and the organic connection they share with eachother, keeps this album standing strong inna Babylon!”

According to bandleader/drummer/singer Billy Messinetti, “So much has happened with the band and me personally in the last five years that I was compelled to write about it. My emotions range from chillin’ at a summer concert, hanging out at the beach playing or listening to some cool reggae vibes to the other extreme of looking inward at deep emotions. I’ve lost too many close family and friends recently and HAVE TO write about it. It is not healing but it does help. I started to publicly release emotions on the song “Blue Butterfly.” Some of these new songs are even more open and honest and emotional. It will be very interesting to see where this all goes…”

The first single to emerge from the new project is “Peace and One Love,” an original composition by Messinetti featuring long-time Island Head guitarist and Grammy Award winner Andy Bassford (Dennis Brown/Shaggy/Toots and the Maytals). A former member of Toots and the Maytals and Lloyd Parks’ We The People Band, Bassford is a respected travelling American studio musician who cut his teeth in hot and hazy Jamaican recording studios like Channel One, Joe Gibbs Studio, and Tuff Gong in the 1980s, appearing on many of the landmark reggae albums ever recorded.

“Peace and One Love” is a catchy, ascending tribute to the soul and vibe of reggae music. Messinetti’s vocal is engaging and his message is positive and forward-looking – a testament to the spirit and character of Messinetti himself who has endured deep personal loss in his own life over the past several years. Listening to this new song, I am reminded that in a world seemingly full of chaos and strife, it is the perseverence of the human spirit that will save the day for each and every one of us. The musicianship here is as tight as one would come to expect from Island Head, a collective of supremely talented musicians that not only play well, but vibe together with an authenticity and chemistry that is too often hard to find in this new age of music production. With “Peace and One Love” Island Head prove yet again that they are the architects of their own destiny and their future is as bright as they want it to be.

“Peace and One Love” will be officially released on all streaming platforms on March 29, 2024.