Special Edition Part 1

Album review

It sometimes feels as though Fat Freddy’s Drop do not so much draw on different genres but constitute a style in their own right. Their foundations may well lie on the swaggering rhythms of reggae, dub and soul, though over the past two decades the New Zealanders have explored everything from Detroit-tinged techno and mind-bending jazz to scorching funk and sensual R&B. The result is a unique and instantly recognisable sound. With Special Edition Part 1 (the first volume of a double album project) the 7-headed groove machine unveils a fifth studio record which does not mess around too much with the agreed formula. Their signature sounds are all there: laid-back bass lines, silky vocals, skank-demanding offbeats and smile-inducing brass. Special Edition Part 1 interweaves songs produced at their BAYS studio in Wellington with concert-tested compositions. Fat Freddy’s Drop are a group who come into their own on stage (a space that allows them to embark on jams that extend well over the ten minute margin), so much so that the crowd has become integral to their production process. MC Slave explains that their audiences’ reactions were used to determine the most effective grooves and arrangements, commenting “the crowd is the instrument - we feed off them”.
Opening with Kamo Kamo’s 5-note synth riff, we are soon transported to Fat Freddy’s borderless universe. OneFourteen explores moody atmospheres over rocksteady rhythms while Raleigh Twenty combines electronic textures with hard-hitting funk. On Special Edition frontman Dallas Tamaira even launches into an energetic rap. With any other group this could risk sounding contrived, yet with Tamaira’s undeniable charisma and the group’s refusal to take life too seriously, the result is contagiously fun.
This is not to say that the band are unable to confront more weighty topics. They prove this on the darker electro-drenched track Trickle Down, a reaction to current politics and the inaccurate economic principle of wealth trickling down from the 1% to the 99%. Ending with the Balearic bliss of Six-Eight Instrumental, Fat Freddy’s Drop give a crash course in rhythmic layering, combining 6/8 time and 3/4 swing with binary drums and pulsing synths. The track closes on a seemingly unfinished trumpet melody that begs the question: when can we devour volume 2?! © Abi Church/Qobuz