Sunday, April 15, 2018

New Mastersounds share some Renewable Energy



Some fun, jazzy bizz from this UK crew for their 12th album... "Recorded in two separate sessions, one in New Orleans and the other in Denver a few months later, "Renewable Energy" expands on the NMS template while still providing plenty of the band's trademark sounds.

The four-piece from Leeds are joined on this 11-track effort by a number of guests: Sam Bell, founding member of NMS precursor The Mastersounds, plays percussion on most of the tracks. The West Coast Horns once again provide added horn action as they did on "Made For Pleasure" from 2015, while Adryon de León from LA band Orgone contributes vocals on "Gonna Be Just Me".

Uptempo numbers "Tantalus" and "Yokacoka" see the band flexing their playing chops over a tightly-wound rhythm, while "Green Was Beautiful" and "Groovin On The Groomers" are toe-tapping slabs of soul jazz.

The band's cover of James Gang's "Funk 49" takes the album in a fuzzed-out psych-rock direction, while the moody Hancock-esque inflections of "Stash" and the sweet mellow vibes of "Swimming With My Fishies" add the final brushstrokes of colour to the canvas."

Out 13 April on LP/CD/digital, via One Note Records. Listen to the album at Kudos

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