Funk, soul and disco music seem to be so defined by their blueprints of the 1970's and 1980's that almost any serious modern attempt at them risks sounding nostalgic. As if these genres lived and died in history, and now we may only pay tribute to them – rather than contribute any further. That’s the risk – but a risk happily avoided by Auckland duo The Feel Good Service with their debut EP DirtyFunknSoul.  

The EP describes itself as ‘feel-good heavy grooves layered with retro synths, and nostalgic melodies, delivered with sweet and sexy vocals.’ In a single sentence that’s about it – though I also found it also to be a collection of great original songs expertly produced. It’s fun, reminiscent and derivative of (and a tribute to) too much great music to really fathom, but importantly a recording that stands up today as a new and great thing. 

It's hard to believe this is the work of just two people (though their experience suggests otherwise – more on that below): New Zealander Lucy Graves and New Yorker Andre 'MoDre' Brown, both of whom are multi-instrumentalists and vocalists, who composed, recorded, produced and mastered DirtyFunknSoul in their own Auckland studio.

After the literally introductory DirtyFunknSoul (Intro) – a 48 second appetiser – the duo pile into eight further full songs. The opening-proper, Karma (released also as a single), has a groove reminiscent of Prince (1999) and is a monologue to a cheating spouse:  “Won’t you take it from me / Don’t you know karma’s a B.” The following Playin With Fire is muti-layered with synth piano, multi-tracked vocals of Lucy’s, spare synths, congas, drum machine.

These are two great starts. But the pair really start to get the groove on with Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is (also an earlier single) – a synth piano and wicky-waah guitar piece, but whose star is the Pull Up To The Bumper-esque bass. It’s piece on the sexual tension, hook-up power play and trash talk occurring between a prospective couple, each vying for the other to submit. “So what ya gonna / Do about it / Cos once ya had it / Ya Can’t live without it.” The following Livin It Up is in a similar vein, but with a dose of 80's smooth disco into the mix. Something about it seemed only three steps away from Swing Out Sister’s Breakout (for those of us old enough to remember that) or Luther Vandross’s Never Too Much. 

These tracks are a blast, and they don’t let up. Hands (also a single) features Lucy’s voice and is an almost timeless feelgood pop thing. She sounds like FKA Twigs – clearly a class act. Carnival has both Graves and MoDre on vocals and lilts like D’Angelo’s Ain’t That Easy (a feel Questlove described as sounding like a broken drum machine). Here’s it’s not quite as pronounced as how The Vanguard do it, but with a live backing band The Feel Good Service could really play on that sound. The closer, Feel For You, diverts back to some pure pop for what is an uplifting ending to a fun almost 25 minutes, and through every moment of which the band is hard-out asking you to come and dance.

It is all uplifting and feels good, as suggested. The danger with that ambition, of course, is that in making feelgood-type music the edges become so smoothly rounded that the resulting piece has no defining shape. Those are the types of recordings that end up on smooth-times, chill out and mother’s day compilations – all nauseating stuff. Thankfully, all that is avoided here, and to great effect, with this EP being a significant statement on Feel Good Service’s debut. Whether it’s jazzy funky soul-like sub-disco synth pop, jazz-funk or sophisti-pop doesn't matter – because whatever genres are in the mix they aren’t just mixed in, but properly integrated into a musical whole. It’s well executed and coherent as a thing in its own right, despite obviously referencing funk, soul and disco masterplans in its development.

Graves’ and MoDre’s years of experience and work with top level artists is probably the explanation for this. I didn’t mention that pedigree earlier because I wanted to let the music speak for itself, but here it is:  Between them they have written, produced or performed with JLo, Big Krit, Black Eyed Peas, and CeeLo Green, performed on The Today Show, on Jimmy Kimmel, on NPR Tiny Desk, written for TV and film and opened for Lionel Ritchie. It’s the type of groundwork that eludes most of us in whatever line of work we might have, not to mention any musical projects. But here its groundwork and an understanding of their landscape that has, I think, provided for that integration of historic sounds and genres into a satisfying and wonderfully executed whole.

I suggest you check out, and if possible, go and see them play live. You’ll dance your feet off.

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