In 2011, Frootful released their debut album Colours on
Freestyle Records to great acclaim, with everyone from Osunlade, Craig Charles
and Diesler praising its modern-yet-retro blend of 60s soul, rocksteady, dance
floor friendly jazz and R&B, whilst Jazz FM made it an Album Of The Week.
The debut single taken from it, 'Fish In The Sea' became a club hit, and also
featured in Steven Soderbergh's hit movie Magic Mike.
Fast-forward to 2013, and guitarist Nick Radford and crew
return with an equally eclectic collection of songs and grooves that make up
the new album, Heavyweight. The title originates from a soul night Nick used to
play 45s at, but also tips its hat to the art of producing a record, in aiming
to get an authentically heavy sound down - from the writing, engineering and
recording, through to the final mixing and mastering. Co-producer Krzysztof
Oktalski played a big role in getting such a sound down, himself a big Northern
Soul collector, who worked with Larry Stabbins and members of Portishead on his
Stonephace album (on Tru Thoughts).
As if to pay homage to their original influences, the album's
opener is a cover of a track originally by Billie Poole with The Junior Mance
Trio featuring one of Nick's musical heroes; jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell. This
new version features the ice cool vocal of Nick's long time collaborator
Angeline Morrison, also a Freestyle artist in her own right now since the
release of Are You Ready Cat? earlier in 2013.
A new and exciting collaboration happens on The Road, which
is a bright, breezy and uplifting soul groove, that has something of a classic
Isley Brothers feel, where shimmering horns underpin Mazens Bedwei's Curtis
Mayfield inspired vocals, and Frootful main man Nick Radford's tasteful guitar
picking locks down this sweet summer sound.
Another quite sublime moment occurs when Mazen and Angeline
Morrison voices join forces on the beautiful Baby It's A Fine Line, a delicate
duet that hints at the southern soul of Stax Records, as both vocalists take
turns to express themselves over this delicate song of troubled love.
Producer of the debut album, Adam Gibbons, lends a helping
hand with some production work on a couple of tracks; Gettin' Ernest skanks in
a mildly dubby style, guitar and organ taking turns to let off some steam,
reminiscent of the late 60s work of Jamaican music legends Jackie Mittoo and
Ernest Ranglin - while Jazz Hands cooks up a distinct flavour of good ol'
fashioned swing, the heavily syncopated drums having one foot in the Cotton
Club and the other firmly on dancefloors of the 21st century.
Frootful's return has the hallmarks we have come to expect;
originality, eclecticism and that indefinable quality that's marks them out
from the crowd.
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