We are sent here by history

"The British-Barbadian jazz saxophonist and his South African players narrate the apocalypse from a distant future, suggesting that in order to build anew, some things will first need to burn".

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"Fronting three different groups may seem like hubris, but the energy and vision of London-based saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings is not easily contained. This second album from his alliance with assorted South African musicians is both calmer and more ominous than his work with the Comet Is Coming and Sons of Kemet ... There are no synth squalls and fractured beats - instead, Hutchings's tenor and clarinet are pitched against an acoustic ensemble driven by double bass and awash with Fender Rhodes piano, an approach that often echoes South Africa's distinct jazz lineage ... A remarkable, shamanic talent".

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"We Are Sent Here By History is a continuous sonic poem - featuring the striking spoken-word lyrics of Siyabonga Mthembu - its 11 tracks forming an impressionistic narrative that demand a renegotiation of our relationship to the earth and patriarch ... Hutchings' message and vision might be grandiose, but his expression is nonetheless heartfelt and captivating. On We Are Sent Here, he makes it apparent that change is necessary, lest we embrace stasis and merely accept the history we've been given".