We recently had the opportunity to check out Atlanta based Cameroonian Afro Futurist / Avant Garde pop artist, Moken Nunga , and his new single and video for “Glory Days” .

You can listen to “Glory Days” on Bandcamp Here You can also watch the video below

We can honestly say we haven’t been this touched and moved by music in a long time.

His stunning vocal lines dramatically vacillate between mournful falsetto tones and rich baritone singing all set against a musical bed of balmy acoustic-based Afro-pop, slinky grooves, and, sometimes, dissonant musical thematic overlay. His genre-defying songwriting pulls from Afrobeat, Makossa, West African palm-wine music, blues, jazz, rock n’ roll, American folk, EDM, and beyond. He’s influenced by Francis Bebey, Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, Fela Kuti, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, James Brown, and Nat “King” Cole.

He is a polymath creative, and in addition to being a singer-songwriter, Moken is an accomplished visual artist, dancer, writer, fashion designer, and poet. As a talented teen, he had his own art studio, and he fell into playing music naturally, sitting in with nearby street musicians playing Bob Marley. “I would join them, making funny noises and mimicking Bob Marley. They encouraged me to keep going and explore music,” Moken recalls. Eventually, Moken did just that; he bought his own guitar and began figuring out how to play.

The single, Glory Days, shines with a gospel sense of hope. Moken’s soulfully weary vocals sing the opening lines: Tell me now/if glory days are gone/if we all work in vain/or time will heal the pain. And the song slowly unfolds with stately piano and folksy acoustic guitar supporting his richly expressive vocals. “Glory Days” dynamically builds up to feature a slowly soaring slide guitar melody with Moken’s fluttery vocals underneath gorgeously quivering. Lyrically, this song is a snapshot of Moken’s days struggling in Detroit trying to make ends meet, always rushing from a 9-to-5 painting job to a classroom. It’s a nostalgic and emotional song, and in it, Moken wonders where the hard work will lead him. “It presents a question to mankind: do we all work in vain, or will time heal the pain? This song is a prayer,” Moken says.

“Glory Days” will be featured on Moken’s third album An African Island in an American City. The 15-song record is an imaginative and purposeful collection of songs with a freewheeling melting-pot aesthetic that cements Moken’s artistic identity while it also showcases his versatility.

When asked about the upcoming album Moken shares: “I have always lived on an island of my own dreams, even back in Africa,” shares Moken “Today, I am experiencing island life in America, as I’ve been abandoned by many members of my family. If you can stay optimistic in adversity such as this, you can produce your best work. Out of isolation came the best songs of my career.”

We have been reviewing music in one form or another for 30 years, We can honestly say that “Glory Days “ from Moken, truly took our breath away . If you love music, this is one experience you can’t miss.