Description
The band are making noises (literally!) with this, their fifth album with critics making comparison between the Butts and the Daptone sound __ more specifically, the sound of Sharon Jones. That_s chiefly down to leather-lunged lead singer, Ciara Thompson. Ms T is an American but relocated to Lyons, France in 2008 where she eventually teamed up with the musicians who would become the Buttshakers.
_Arcadia_ was heralded a summer single, _Not In My Name___ a tough and gritty funk tune featuring full on horns and a take-no-prisoners vocal from Ciara. In essence that_s the signature sound of the 10 tracker. But, maybe more important_ than that sound, is the message in the music. The title of that single actually sums up where it_s coming from. You see, here Thompson and her team have taken the opportunity to take a look/swipe at what_s going on politically and socially in America. Ciara says in France she_s found a freer mode of expression __. _untethered from the idealistic veil of my childhood, my America now appears in its crudest reality; disfigured by violence and racism, the streets transformed into makeshift shelters for those without a home_!
That said, you_d expect _Arcadia_ to be po-faced and heavily didactic, but it_s not. Sure much of the music is tough __ that_s the essence of the funk, that the band peddle but in places there_s a pleasing lightness of touch that somehow makes the message more relevant. Case in point is _Keep On Pushing_. No, this isn_t the Impressions_ classic (but possibly a nod to dear old Curtis?); rather it_s a pacey, frantic Northern-flavoured workout that sweeps you along. The sonic reference is Daptone. Hear that too on the slower _Gone For Good_, the brassy _Never Enough_, the loose and funky _Daddy Issues_ and _the moody _Night Crawl_. Elsewhere, (try _Go On_ and _Back In America_) on which Ms T is maybe more Janis Joplin than Sharon Jones __ but by now, I_m sure, you_re getting the sonic picture and from the song titles you can work out where the album_s coming from.
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Credit: soulandjazzandfunk.com
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