24 November 2017 - 0 Comments

The latest project from Brad & Stu Kora (Kora), Joel Shadbolt and Ara Adams-Tamatea(Katchafire), L.A.B.'sdebut album showcases the incredible talent that has seen the band become a fan favourite on the New Zealand live circuit.

L.A.B. is 12 songs which have been tested, honed and perfected live over the past three years. The musical talent and experience of all four members is undeniable, with each bringing their eclectic styles to the table. The result is an eclectic mix of reggae, electronic, blues, funk, and reggae, even heading into country at points.

L.A.B. have spent over three years making their name on the live circuit in both New Zealand and Australia, and their debut album is a result of countless sets honing their material. Written across Whakatane and Tauranga, the album has been recorded across week-long stints at Wellington’s Surgery Studios with Dr Lee Prebble (The Black Seeds, Fly My Pretties). Live, the band would debrief after each show, critiquing and adjusting arrangements after each show. The recordings are no different, working and tweaking until each track was just right.

The two-headed production team of Prebble and Brad Kora combined not only the eclectic sounds but the eclectic influences to create the L.A.B. sound. “I would throw him a reference of Grace Jones one day and then the next day The Clash, but he nailed it everytime,” Kora says of working with Prebble. “I think it got to the point where I would just mumble an idea and he would say “already onto it!” With Kora as the main driving force, his brother Stu, Shadbolt and Adams-Tamatea would then come in and individually add their own character and colour to the recording process.

L.A.B. opens with She’s Gone, a seven-minute juggernaut, which starts as a Dire Straits-inspired guitar epic, before switching effortlessly to a blend of reggae/funk, punctuated by Shadbolt’s soaring guitar. Starry Eyes and Jimmy Boy are two festival-ready monsters, while Umulash is not just a word without a dictionary definition, but is an earworm that sticks with the listener with its refrain of “Umulash – I wanna get cash”.

Across all 12 tracks, L.A.B. shows an act with a strong sense of their own voice and sound, and all its different aspects. The Watchman and Oh-No both are reggae-funk tunes driven by Adams-Tamatea’s bass, while Controller and Love Will Save Me are ballads driven by Stu Kora’s synth sounds. Sweet Water further shows the Pink Floyd influence with its epic reimagining of earlier track Starry Eyes, and Oldman even features slide guitar from the Kora brother’s father.

Over one hour long, L.A.B. is an album which wears its influences unapologetically on its sleeves, and has created an eclectic sound. It is an album which showcases four incredibly talented and experienced musicians combining in a unique way, taking all the elements of their separate musical lives, throwing them into a blender, and resulting in a listen which is unlike anything that has come before.

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