Genre(s): Folk, eco rock, spiritual
Location: Durham, NC
Released: April 8, 2026
When Hallowed Ground by The Violent Femmes came out, I was a teenager and it floored me. The record felt nothing like anything they’d done before. Something ancient and unfamiliar was moving through it, something that bypassed the brain and went straight to the chest.
Looking back, I know now what I was hearing: spirituals. Religious folk songs. Call and response. The sound of shared struggle sung together as a community. Vito Dito‘s new album Space Ways Spirituals with Ken Moshesh brought me back to that feeling of discovering something new that is also very, very old. This is a moving collection of songs from the heart, and it couldn’t feel more relevant than it does right now.
I’ve always been struck by Vito live. The percussive attack of his guitar playing, the full-body investment in every moment, the way he draws an audience into the fold like a congregation. The man is a high priest of performance. What Space Ways Spirituals accomplishes is something rare: it captures that live energy in the studio without losing a drop of it.
The album opens with “Go Down Moses” and it gets you out of your seat, arms in the air, singing along before you’ve even decided to. Rich, darkly lit sounds, and Vito’s voice sounding better than ever. The second track, “Going to Glory,” shifts register: here the spotlight falls squarely on the beauty and texture of his vocals, every phrase shining.
Ken Moshesh, former percussionist for Sun Ra, is the album’s secret foundation. His drumming on “Following the Drinking Gourd” doesn’t just accompany the song; it evokes something physical, the footfall of people moving through dark, tree-lined paths toward freedom. Moshesh’s style is percussive and tonal at once, subtle and trance-inducing, sewing together a sound that feels ancient, current, and somehow futuristic all at once.
“Steal Away” has a different energy that’s rawer, more urgent. It blends the spiritual tradition with a folk-punk attitude that makes you want to play it at full volume and scream along with every word. The closing track, “My Lord and I”, is its counterweight: a roller coaster of vocals riding up and down, harmonies that linger long after the song ends.
Listening to this EP, I keep returning to a specific feeling: a headspace that is open and calm, free from the weight of daily life. Five tracks, no filler, nothing wasted.
Space Ways Spirituals deserves a packed room and a great sound system. Give it both.
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