Enkokilesh

If tezeta is the mode of looking backward, this song catches Tilahun Gessesse in a more animated, almost confrontational emotional register. The track opens with an infectious brass fanfare before settling into a rhythmically assertive groove that has something of the quality of a demand — the title word itself repeated with an emphasis that feels like a question being pressed for an answer. Gessesse's voice here operates at a different temperature than his ballad recordings: still commanding and beautifully controlled, but with an edge of urgency that keeps the performance crackling with forward momentum. The rhythm section is locked into a propulsive pattern that gives the song physical energy, the kind that makes it difficult to remain entirely still while listening. Horns punctuate the spaces between vocal phrases with sharp, declarative interjections, the overall effect being of an ensemble in productive argument with its lead voice. The song belongs to the golden period of Addis nightclub music, the early 1970s moment documented on the Éthiopiques compilation series, when the city's musical culture was absorbing global influences while producing something wholly its own. The cultural loss represented by what came after — the Derg's suppression of this scene, the exile of so many of its musicians — gives this recording a weight it doesn't need to seek. You listen to this when you want to feel alive and slightly off-balance, music that pushes rather than soothes.