New Zealand’s far North premier reggae group 1814 bring the party with their sun-drenched blend of sweet soulful vocals, upbeat grooves and smooth sax lines with strong messages of peace, love and harmony.
The Covers Album features 11 solid tracks from artists such as the “father of soul” Sam Cooke, the great Bill Withers, legendary country singer Johnny Cash and so many more, it is sure to impress.
The music is a mix of funky RnB and reggae from the heavy weights in the NZ reggae scene. The album comes together really well, remixing old classics with that reggae twang. Cupid would be my favourite track, lyrical sincerity, minimalist music but big vibe resonates through out. The saxophone solos in the album are enough to make anyone swoon, especially when combined with deliberate and engaging reggae essence. Ring of Fire is a new take on a great song with a guitar solo that rocks the reggae version, only draw back is the end lyrics don’t flow so well. Picture on the Wall regains this momentary loss of flow and refocuses the sweet soul vocals that do every song on this album justice.
What reggae covers album would not be complete without a UB40 song, 1814 mix up their sound in Bring Me Your Cupwith a new vocalist keeping the song very close to the original with the same up tempo beat. The albums version of Your Love Gets Sweeter incorporates some scat which leads it into being a very jazzy sort of love song.
The Covers Album is set to be a slow burning summer favourite.
1814 are a 7-piece reggae band whose members live in the hill’s around the beautiful Whangaroa Harbour and near by town of Kerikeri, Northland.
Patu Colbert guitar/vocals formed the band with son’s, Shaun on drums and Jimmy on bass in 2004 while playing in a small church in Kaeo. “We were supporting community events around Northland which gave us the opportunity to play our own material and it sort of started from there".
The line up now includes Darren Katene lead vocal, Katherine Te Haara–Atama vocals, Reuben Heger sax, Erana Jones keys and Tony Harrison on sound.