You live and learn, don't you? Apparently, THE BLUEFOOT PROJECT is a term referring to Leeds city centre's, er, 'ladies of the night', shall we say, though it's probably not a subject we should pursue in detail here.
Especially when the 'musical' BLUEFOOT PROJECT are a far more alluring proposition. This West Yorkshire quartet, led by the angelically vocally-endowed Rachel Modest, are a rising urban pop/ soul collective and "Brave" is their debut album. And a sublime, fully-realised firstborn it surely is.
Like their labelmates Kava Kava, The Bluefoot Project are very much a live band set up, who utilise smart, subtle samples, loops and scratching as colouring to flesh out their tight ensemble sound, with the distant, noir-ish guitar, dub-by rumbles of bass and Chris' crisp drumming all crucial to the plot.
The opening "Concrete" effectively sets the scene. Rachel's urban angst ("The walls move in, the doors they close, how did I get here?") spar with MC Oova's sheer frustration, as he spits: "Take away this shit that surrounds me" as the band make like a less trippy version of Morcheeba.
"Mongrels" and "Mistake" again feature tight, funky arrangements and clipped guitars and Rachel's vocals (roughly equal parts Shara Nelson and Diane Charlemagne) starring. Lyrically, she's focussed on the minutiae of our lives (e.g: "So many times as human beings we tend to wish our lives away", she mourns on "Little Miss Selfish"), but her voice ensures the bitterest of these pills are sugar-coated.
Later on, things get more ambitious and even more impressive. Both "I Don't Need You" and the excellent "Does He Love U?" have trace elements of trip-hop, though the latter features clavinet for a funkier edge and is very nicely poised. "Try", on the other hand, is more akin to, say, Nightmares On Wax, with Oova's toasting-style entry giving way to breakbeats, spacy basslines and squelchy keyboards. Damn fine.
|
They hold the best in reserve, though. "Soma" -with its' wonky bassline, distant, atmospheric guitar and emotional lyrical content - is dream-like and spare and arguably the best track here, though its' slipstreamed by the subterranean reggae feel of the dark, paranoic "In A Light Place" and the tremendous closing track "Hold You", where Rachel starts out acapella and pretty and gradually gets washed away by the big, echo-ey drums, jaywalking bass and drifting, abstract guitar that comes on like Andy Gill after a few disco biscuits.
The Barefoot Project and Chocolate Fireguard are both burgeoning talents we'll be hearing a lot more from if there's any justice in the world at all. "Brave" is deep, smoky, unnerringly soulful and quite possibly the tastiest slice of late-night urban pop you'll score all year. You won't be needing the city centre after all, it seems.
|
