Michael Franti & Spearhead - The Sound Of Sunshine (Album Review)
Friday, 15 April 2011
Written by James Ball
At the time of writing, the weather outside my window has gone from being a glorious display of sunshine and warmth of the last few days to a grey, drab affair that can’t even be bothered of rain. And it’s muggy. Of course, Michael Franti and his long-time creation Spearhead aren’t known for taking a bright day and making it all crappy, so I placed this new album, already huge in the musical behemoth of the USA, in the player and while the weather outside didn’t change a whole lot, I felt a whole lot sunnier on the inside.
Opener, and lead single 'The Sound of Sunshine' doesn’t let this album's theme drift in slowly. The summer barges in whether you like it or not, and you can’t help but be totally absorbed by the funky, feel-good, fun loving raison d’etre of it. In fact each track sounds in one way or the other like the middle of July. Most tracks wouldn’t sound out of place in a club. Every single one should be on your iPod or CD player or media player of choice at your barbeque this year. Every single track should be played when you’re feeling like things aren’t going well for you. I have never, ever, in all my life heard such a heart-warming record that doesn’t outstay its welcome.
To quote third track 'Hey Hey Hey': “There’s a crack in the gutter where a flower grows”, one of the best lyrics of 2011 so far showing that even when life is a bit rubbish, when things aren’t going so well for whatever, good can come from it. Too many albums and artists sing and wax lyrical about trouble, strife, heartache and pain, and while those things are fine to write about as music is a mirror of life, to hear something that feels ultimately positive IS the flower in the gutter.
So the songs themselves, what do they sound like? Generally speaking most contain a successful combination of swooping strings, up-tempo thumping drum loops, delicate guitars (steel, electric and acoustic sounds weave their way through each song) that twinkle and intertwine with great precision, occasional pseudo-reggae (especially during the sublime 'Anytime you need me') and, on one occasion, U2-style arena rock with a mind-blowing build and climax. Each track is a master class in song writing, both lyrically and musically with little in the way of bum chords, daft rhymes or lazy melody. Of course, with legendary producers Sly and Robbie involved in this record, you would surely expect nothing less than excellent production values and this record hits every note with style and aplomb. Franti & Spearhead have always been experimental with their infusing of hip hop, reggae, rock, folk and gospel music, but one thing they’ve always done it make it sound easy. Not one track on this album alienates anyone, but not one sounds like anyone else either. That takes some doing.
The musical highlight though is the entirely different-from-anything-else-on-the-record 'The thing that helps me get through'. Stabbing piano, gruff fuzzy guitar chords, and a passionate vocal line means I would defy anybody who hears it in a club to not dance to it. It sounds like an upgraded and impatient garage rock classic fused with the best of uptempo soul before it suddenly gets hot and sultry about half way through. Everything suddenly quietens down before Franti explodes the song back into life again for the final third and the huge build towards the tracks climax, which then fades out rather than just stopping, showing that the party never stops. Even better is that this track leads into a beautiful and thought-provoking ballad ('Gloria') to begin the dusk portion of the album. The tracklist has been ordered very carefully to make this album flow to the best of its potential, especially with the reworked version of the opening track 'The Sound of Sunshine Going Down' closing the album as the perfect bookend. Basically, the record opens in the heat of the middle of the day, and ends as things cool down, the sun sets and night draws in. It’s a simple premise that works out pretty well.
If I had to find criticism (and I’m the kind of person who refuses to believe that anything is perfect), penultimate track 'Headphones' suffers from some very dodgy wordplay at times and has an uninspiring melody which you could almost hear a generic boyband singing along to, but not only does this song then expand upon itself throughout its four minutes and thus get slightly better, this is in comparison with everything else on the record which more than makes up for the negatives. It’s rare to find any album where eleven songs are staggeringly good, and only one isn’t quite up with them.
So, in closing, when you’re on your seventh studio album (as Michael Franti & Spearhead - Franti himself has released even more still in other guises), it’s extremely difficult to keep things fresh and interesting. Many bands totally reinvent themselves to survive. Franti & Spearhead however managed to make every song sound fresh, new and inspiring. This will almost certainly be the soundtrack to my summer.
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To quote third track 'Hey Hey Hey': “There’s a crack in the gutter where a flower grows”, one of the best lyrics of 2011 so far showing that even when life is a bit rubbish, when things aren’t going so well for whatever, good can come from it. Too many albums and artists sing and wax lyrical about trouble, strife, heartache and pain, and while those things are fine to write about as music is a mirror of life, to hear something that feels ultimately positive IS the flower in the gutter.
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