It’s Douglas’ gift that his music is not compromised by his politics or vice versa. The music expresses the politics, the politics shapes his art. It’s a robust and reciprocal aesthetic. The circle is indeed unbroken. Engage follows the format of 2018’s Uplift, which brought together cuts originally available to Greenleaf subscribers, but now under the banner of ‘Optimism. Action. Community’. And if that feels like po-faced sloganeering, fear not: this is open-hearted music, generous in spirit. So, the music is nearly all of measured tempo, refusing to be riled, as on the open jam of ‘One Sun, A Million Rays’ with Douglas and Adewuni duetting and duelling; or assertive, yet not bullying, as on the Mingustinged grooves of ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’. No easy answers, no easy music. But always hope.