Album Review: The Black Seeds flex their creativity and talent in the new album "Love & Fire"
Photo courtesy of Easy Star Records. Photo credit: David James.
Since their formation in the late 90's, New Zealand's The Black Seeds have been key ambassadors for the reggae sounds of the South Pacific. Every one of their six albums have impacted audience's worldwide with a quality sound that is not afraid to blend a wide variety of genres with their reggae foundation. On their seventh full length release "Love & Fire", the band has truly outdone themselves. Sometimes musicians, especially those with long and successful careers, use more or less a formula to make new music. "Love & Fire" however lives, breathes, and bleeds creativity throughout every song on the album, making it a very pleasant, fun, and interesting run of music that we absolutely love.
The album kicks off with the bass-heavy, pop sensible, upbeat tune "Let The Sunshine Through". The production decisions give the song a very fresh tonality. Unique synth creation, playful guitar and horn lines, and a mix of analogue and sampled percussion give the instrumentation a great rhythm that moves the song forward beautifully, while lead singer Barnaby Weir's vocals cut through perfectly.
The title track "Love & Fire" is a slower tempo jam with a distinct reggae backbeat while having the rhythm of a slower electronic dance track. Many amazing songs have been crafted after a musician gets a new piece of gear. Something about the first few sessions on a new instrument brings about wonderful ideas, and "Love & Fire" is one such example. The Black Seeds' keyboardist Nigel Patterson acquired a vintage synthesizer, and the sounds and rhythms he created on the synth brought about this awesome track.
"Bring The Sun" is one of our favorite songs on the album as it is unique, inventive, and above all a lot of fun. This track fuses the sound of disco and soul with a reggae rhythm that sounds equal parts live and electronic in the best of ways. A straight forward drum rhythm is tightly locked in with a funky bassline. Dreamy synths and guitars add texture (especially in the stereo image) and quick horn lines make the song feel like one big dance party. The vocals are executed with what sounds like the influence of 70s disco and 80s new wave singers.
Immediately following "Bring The Sun" is the extremely funky song "It's So Real". Every musician in the band turned the funk level up to 10. Syncopated rhythms, vintage tones, and staccato hits bring the song to live. The talent of the horn section is on full display. The mix of guitar tones is selected perfectly for each stellar riff, of which there are many. This is definitely not a song you want to miss!
"Game Over" is a beautiful reggae tune that has the sound of classic roots and rocksteady, while also being very modern with tones similar to new reggae pop bands like Iration. The mixing on this song is fantastic, with the amount of reverb, delay, and volume/pan placement done perfectly for every instrument. The vocal harmonies bring a lot of depth to the song and work well with the wonderfully played instrumentation. To check out more of The Black Seed's music and find out about upcoming shows go to www.theblackseeds.com
"Bring The Sun" is the Daily Reggae Song of the Day.
By Chris Lawrie.
