Layering funky horns and spiky guitar licks inside his formidable Afropop constructions, Ghanaian bandleader/producer Ebo Taylor creates a winning variation on traditional highlife with this mid-’70s hybrid. Opening track “Odofo Nnyi Ekyir Biara” plunges into a deep Fela Kuti-inspired Afrobeat groove, with Taylor’s ragged horn ensemble giving way to rhythm-driven dark funk. But he also showcases his love for the brighter paths of Ghanaian highlife and American R&B, as on Afro-Cuban detour “Maye Omama” and the soulful title cut, where vocalists Pat Thomas and Lola Everett promise to dry one another’s tears.