Blue River Baby - Single Review: Blue River Baby
The hard working Wellington based 'electric psychedelic soul and funk rock' ensemble Blue River Baby have released their self-titled and third single as a video.
Blue River Baby clearly has the same evolution as Walk of Shame and Black Yard Town. The musical elements have evolved as part of an organic process and sound like they have been well tested in the live format. This gives Blue River Baby the feel of a ‘set closer’. Certainly, the song has a lively instrumentation, full of individual character and it is structured dynamically for maximum impact.
Blue River Baby show their own evolution in jazz and funk by treating everything like an instrument. The work of vocalist Ivy Padilla is almost like an alto saxophone solo and the guest rap makes a strong rhythmic contribution- almost an extra percussionist.
This is of course, a key element in many of the great soul and funk bands. Melody doesn’t dominate quite so much (as it does, say, in Pop music), rather it sits on top and around a carefully arranged set of musical interactions. All the parts back up and accentuate the others - it's almost a polyphonic texture. It makes for rewarding listen because everywhere you go to in this song you will find skilled playing and singing. In addition, the whole sound together is powerful and full.
Blue River Baby clearly understand this, and the song of the same name is a powerful and effective artefact of a band with a clear understanding of its craft.
About Blue River Baby
The bands self-titled debut album was recorded with Dr. Lee Prebble who has been instrumental in projects from L.A.B. and The Black Seeds. Released 2019 B.R.B's first album hit #1 on the NZ Indie (IMNZ) Top 20 Album Chart and #8 on the Official NZ Music Top 20 Album Chart, and held three weeks in both charts in the company iconic acts like L.A.B., Six60, BENEE, Drax Project, Troy Kingi, Katchafire & Aldous Harding.
B.R.B received a bunch of ongoing commercial and student radio play around NZ 2019 and into 2020. In March 2020 they re-entered the (IMNZ) Top 20 Album Chart at #12.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Blue River Baby
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