The Cavemen’s new album Cavy in the City dropped on 31 October, and it feels like a confident return to form for the duo: Kingsley Okorie on bass and Benjamin James on drums. Known for reimagining traditional highlife with live instrumentation and rich nostalgia, the brothers once again build on what they’ve always done best.
The project opens with a warm homage to the legends: Rex Lawson, Celestine Ukwu, Osita Osadebe, and Oliver De Coque, instantly grounding it in the music’s roots. Sonically and visually, the record leans into that vintage spirit. Even the cover art, like Show Dem Camp’s Afrika Magic, nods to old Nigerian poster design with its bold, grainy, and proudly analogue look.
Compared to their last album, Love and Highlife (2024), which experimented more with contemporary sounds and collaborations, this one feels closer in spirit to their debut Roots, which is familiar and more faithful to the traditional highlife rhythms that first made fans fall in love.
Their latest album, Cavy in the City, arrives as a confident extension of what they’ve always done best: traditional highlife music reimagined through live instrumentation, arranged sounds, and nostalgia.
A Return to Highlife
The Cavemen are students of sound. Their live-band approach gives the album a steady rhythm, powered by drums, deep basslines, and proper jazz-style. Here, they lean even deeper into highlife, less genre-blending, more focus. The songs blend into each other in a way that’s good enough, although there’s still a little sonic interruption here and there. Those interruptions are enough distinction for certain tracks to stand out.
Production-wise, Cavy in the City is good. The mixing isn’t glossy or overdone; it’s a sort of warm music that fits a Sunday afternoon gathering more than a club night. The Cavemen aren’t trying to modernise highlife, either. They’re preserving it while giving it motion.
If the album falters anywhere, it’s in the writing. The Cavemen are stronger as musicians than lyricists, and that shows here. Their words are simple and repetitive, serving more as rhythm than message. For listeners who prefer vivid storytelling or emotional narrative, that can feel limiting.
Still, their use of Igbo and English blends keeps the songs grounded in identity. They also slip in familiar gospel melodies, not in a religious way, but as an embrace of community sound. That choice ties the music closer to the everyday experiences it celebrates.
Despite the album title, Cavy in the City doesn’t build a clear concept around urban life or transition. Instead, it feels like a loose collection of moments and moods. The interludes do a lot of the heavy lifting, keeping the flow from track to track.
The standout collaborations work smoothly within that flow. Angelique Kidjo on Keep on Moving adds her signature sound, while Pa Salieu brings structure to Gatekeepers. Neither feature disrupts The Cavemen’s sound; they simply expand it.
Highlights Worth Replaying
A few songs make the project stay long after the first listen. “Adaugo” captures the soul of the album; it’s raw, melodic, and very romantic. “Gatekeepers” is more like a protest track, tackling power and control over who gets seen or heard, and then there’s “Onwunwa Celestine,” a tribute to the late Celestine Ukwu. It’s the most reflective moment on the project, reminding listeners of highlife’s long history as both music and memory.
Comfort Zone or Mastery?
Cavy in the City doesn’t break new ground for The Cavemen, but it doesn’t need to. It’s comfortable in its form, it’s warm, familiar, and easy to return to. For fans of the duo, this album delivers exactly what’s expected: rhythm, groove, and a deep love for highlife.
For new listeners, it’s a good entry point into their world, even if it doesn’t stretch far beyond what they’ve already done. The Cavemen sound settled here, almost to a fault, but what they lose in experimentation, they gain in consistency.
