Little Lion Sound – Cosmic Journey

Little Lion Sound

Little Lion Sound started out in Geneva in 2004 as a soundsystem, and has since built a reputation well beyond Switzerland. Through its own Evidence Music imprint, the collective has kept up a steady run of vocal releases. Cosmic Journey gathers twelve of them on one LP. Nearly all appeared between September 2024 and January 2026, with Jah Love from 2016 and No Love from 2022/2023 the older exceptions. In that sense, the record maps the direction the collective has taken in recent years. The vinyl edition draws from the digital album, issued on 29 May 2026 with sixteen tracks.

Established names and younger voices

King Kong’s Faith Move Mountain makes for a convincing opening. This roots-minded cut arrived in May 2025 over a riddim built by Nicolas Meury and Little Lion Sound, and it sets the terms for what follows. Established names and younger voices share the running order without the contrasts feeling forced; King Kong and Capleton sit alongside Eesah and Vanzo, and the contrasts work. Even so, Cosmic Journey never plays like a pile of disconnected singles. The productions carry a recognisable signature, despite the riddims coming from several hands. Chezidek’s Live from May 2025 was made with Costa Rebel. Eesah’s Lakeport (Contraband) from November 2025 rides an Irie Yute riddim, while Rise My People from June 2025, featuring Eesah and Junior Dread, uses one by 808 Delavega. That the album still holds together says much for Little Lion Sound’s own mixing and arrangements.

Strongest cuts

Among the strongest cuts are Micah Shemaiah’s Jah Love, Chezidek’s handsome roots piece Live, and Capleton’s spirited Jah Is My Leader. Jah Love has history behind it. It first surfaced in 2016 on the Heal Them riddim, which Little Lion Sound created with Mista Savona, and it settles into this collection without any awkwardness. Jah Is My Leader came out as a single in December 2024 and opened the Uhuru riddim in February 2025, a Costa Rebel and Little Lion Sound production carrying dozens of voices. Queen Omega’s No Love, one of the better-known selections here, still holds up too. This is the studio version from the Sound Killer riddim, not the viral dubplate over Dr. Dre’s The Next Episode, which received its own release in November 2023.

International

The LP also benefits from its reach. Jamaica naturally carries most of the weight, but Brother Culture from Brixton and Junior Dread from São Paulo widen the frame. Junior Dread appears on Ruffa, from the Ruffa riddim, issued as a compilation in November 2025.

Worth Noting

For listeners less familiar with some of the names on the back cover, there are three voices worth noting. Vanzo, born Devano McLean in Sligoville and raised in Spanish Town, released his debut album in 2023, his second, Fueled By Passion, arrived in 2026 through Greatest Trees and Evidence Music. String Up from August 2025, made with Little Lion Sound and Industree, is not the same song as String Up A Sound from that album.
Layla-Rei is the daughter of Bugle and Raine Seville. She debuted as a child in 2018 with Big up Jamaica and Ambition, and Good Over Evil from January 2026, produced with Marseille’s Dub Akom, marks her first substantial recording beside her father. It should not be confused with the track of the same name by Da Fuchaman and Angelica Mava on the Ruffa Riddim.
Fênix closes the set with a fitting sense of arrival. Jô, credited as Joana Iglesias Ribeiro, is a Luso-Brazilian singer and rapper working from Geneva. Her music draws together reggae, rap and MPB, and her biography notes classical training in Lisbon. Fênix appeared in September 2024 on the Uhuru riddim and has become her most-streamed song, with more than six million Spotify plays at the time of writing. As a final word, it shows how far contemporary roots reggae now travels.