Ethiopian brothers Noah and Medhane Tewolde were born and raised in Addis Ababa by a family that worked for the Emperor Haile Selassie. As Nazarenesthey record passionately spiritual reggae music.

Both siblings had independent careers in reggae throughout the ’90s, but something special happened when they came together in 2001 to release Orit, their first album together. There’s a spirit that haunts their songs and a strangely cool fire when they sing together. And when they do it in the ancient Ethiopian language called Ge’ez it can induce chills.

But their back story raises an immediate question. If roots reggae in Jamaica and elsewhere is marked by a longing for a spiritual home (figuratively or literally) in mythic Ethiopia, what do you long for once you get there, or, in the case of Nazarenes, if you are in fact Ethiopian? If the Tewolde’s answer the question with their music, the answer is that you long for a better world. On their recently released fourth album Meditation, the duo, now based in Sweden, sing pleas for environmental conservation and access to healthy food for the world’s people, but they infuse these Earth-grounded songs with powerful metaphysical force.

And they do it beautifully. Their jams bubble with dub heat or gleam with vintage horns. Sometimes both. On the stand-out track “The Lord Said” the brothers bring a late ’70s soul feel into their reverie, an addition that somehow makes it sound even more timeless. But if you really want to feel like you are moving though the ages, check out the title track: