08 September 2017 - 0 Comments
Created with
the support of NZ On
Air and recorded at Lee Prebble’s Wellington studio The Surgery, Fabric is a
twelve-track album of bold, groove-heavy tunes that perfectly captures The
Black Seeds’ characteristic brand of reggae-funk fusion.
Musically, there is a grand expansiveness that sets over the collective of
tracks on Fabric,
allowing for each song to breathe and exist on its own, but also comfortably
within the context of the wider picture. In other words, it is a prolific and
multi-faceted mix of moods, feelings and stylistic influences, all brought
together by the core reggae sound of The Black Seeds.
Underneath the genre fusing, there is a physically infectious kinetic energy in the album. There are times when it dips into a nostalgic homage to the late 70's/early 80's RnB and analogue funk era with songs like Freakin’, or the bass-heavy groove of Everybody Knows.
A socio-political conscience shines through on tracks like the striking Beleza (which features the voice of ‘the father of linguistics’, Noam Chomsky) that sings “It’s only a matter of time, Before you spend your money and lose your mind, people of this world let’s listen, don’t play a fool to the system.’’
The mesmerizing Lost In The Bush takes The Black Seeds sound down a sci-fi avenue, fusing the usual reggae ingredients with heavy synths to morph into a squelchy grimy strut, while the hypnotic Lightning Strikes takes a melancholic turn with its spacey reverberated horns. Another standout on the album is the deep, dub heavy love song found in the title track.
But where there is darkness, one only needs to turn on the light. And in classic Black Seeds fashion, the light reaches in through with the warm affirmations of Weir and Weetman’s words, adding a classic element to this new Black Seeds record. The uplifting album opener Better Days ensures us that “better days are coming, lonely nights are leaving”, while tracks like ‘The Weaver’ remind us that love will conquer all pain.
Overall Fabricshows The Black Seeds’ limitless creative energy for what it is - always moving forward and progressing without compromising the soul of who they are, while always remaining conscious of the current world around them.
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