Florence Adooni Readies International Debut Album A.O.E.I.U.: A Joyful Journey Through Highlife, Jazz, and Dancefloor Magic

Following a triumphant 70-date touring activity across Europe in 2023 and 2024, including appearances at festivals such as Roskilde, Down The Rabbithole, End of The Road and FMM Sines, Ghanaian Fra Fra soul singer Florence Adooni readies the release of her hotly- anticipated international debut album, A.O.E.I.U. (An Ordinary Exercise In Unity) on Philophon. Produced by longtime collaborator and Philophon Records founder Max Weissenfeldt, with backing from a young generation of talented highlife musicians from the southern Ghanaian region of Kumasi, A.O.E.I.U. is the joyful culmination of a decade-long working relationship between Florence and Max, the fullest expression of their infectiously optimistic and uniquely ebullient sound.

Across seven tracks, Florence and her groove-forward group journey through a range of propulsive influences. Opening number, 'Mam Pe’ela Su’ure' (My Heart is Pure), effortlessly combines the intricate guitar melodies of Kumasi highlife with a shuffling syncopated rhythm, horn fanfares and stacked vocal harmonies to create an undulating and expansive display of instrumental virtuosity. Ensuing tracks traverse everything from the synth-bass dancefloor focus of 'Vocalize My Luv' to the title track’s spiritual jazz saxophone explorations, Ethiopian Ambassel melodies of 'Otoma Da Naba' (Well Done), and fast-paced punctuating funk of 'Uh-Ah Song'. “I’m so proud of this album,” Florence says. “It’s the beautiful culmination of the years I’ve been working with Max and a reflection of the incredible energy we’ve experienced playing this music live all around the world. I can’t wait for people to hear it!”

First encountering Florence’s music over a decade ago while Max was travelling through Ghana and absorbing the West African country’s range of rhythmic sounds, it was the chance discovery of her locally self-released debut Fra Fra gospel record 'Ho Sanga La Pa’aya' (This Is Your Time) that planted the seeds for further collaboration. “I kept playing this one track of Florence’s that had been shared with me by a local record shop owner and the second time I went to his store, I spotted Florence outside selling her music,” Max says. “I approached her and knew immediately that she would be the perfect person to collaborate with on my new label, Philophon.”

Over the next five years, Florence’s powerful falsetto and instinctive melodies became a key component of the Philophon sound, featuring on the label’s releases from Fra Fra group Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy, with singer Guy One, and with Finnish saxophonist Jimi Tenor. Yet, it wasn’t until Max relocated his Berlin studio to Kumasi in 2019 that their first collaboration with Florence under her own name took shape. “We made a recording together with the two female choir singers of the Sounds of Joy, a classic blend of highlife with Fra Fra singing,” Max says. "Originally it was planned to be released as a merchandise item for the upcoming tour of Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy, but as the tour never happened due to the circumstances of 2020, I just put it out under Florence Adooni - and it became an unexpected door opener“.

The response to the track, 'Mam Pe’ela Su’ure' (My Heart is Pure), was overwhelming and soon the infectious sound of Fra Fra and Florence’s joy-filled vocals were to be found on stages across Europe. “That song has given us a platform to play over 70 concerts since, something I could never have imagined,” Florence says. “My band had never left Ghana before but now we have seen the world and we are more united and thrilled than ever before.”

It is the distinctive guitar-line of 'Mam Pe’ela Su’ure' (My Heart is Pure) that opens A.O.E.I.U, heralding a record that sums up the past decade of Florence’s musical ascent and that features her band firing on all cylinders following their extensive touring. The group’s virtuosic playing touches on everything from the sprawling saxophone lines of the title track – which takes its name from the instinctual, open vowel 'A.O.E.I.U' sound Max came up with in the studio – as well as digging into the sequenced fast-paced funk bassline of Otoma Da Naba (Well Done), the mid-tempo earthy dub groove of 'O Yinne Te San Tue!' (Yinne, You Are There When We Are Lost), and the infectious 'Uh-Ah Song'.

“Max usually comes up with the melodies and I write the lyrics and one day he came over and began playing this track that my daughter sang ‘uh-uh-uh’ along to in rhythm,” Florence says. “We decided to turn the track into a joyful children’s song, something to inspire music in others. It’s still my favourite track to play live as it never fails to get everyone singing.”

Ultimately, 'A.O.E.I.U' is a singular work of unity, the production of a unique Fra Fra highlife band – perhaps the only one in the world – making music with the goal of bringing its listeners together in harmony.

With plans to take the album on the road in 2025 and further genre-expanding collaborations on the horizon, Florence Adooni’s infectious sound is certain to take dancefloors the world over by storm.