Sweetback

by Sweetback

Overview

Three-quarters of Sade's back-up band make their album debut under the moniker Sweetback (as in Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Melvin Van Peebles' 1971 trend-setting film). But whereas the svelte chanteuse makes music that suggests upper-crust, non-smoking jazz clubs, Sweetback's music is more "underground" in tone. Guitarist/saxophonist Stuart Matthewman, keyboardist Andrew Hale, and bassist Paul Spencer Denman are definitely out to forge an identity of their own. They describe their music as "global soul music." It's a diverse mixture of ambient dub, trip-hop, retro soul, and slightly off-kilter jazz. They have a versatile group of guest performers to help them get their musical vision across. On the first single, the smooth "You Will Rise," Groove Theory vocalist Amel Larrieux caresses the optimistic lyrics: "I got a story that must be heard/about a little girl who wished she was a bird/she was unhappy living in a ghetto cage/but it gave her hope when her sweet grandma would say/baby you will rise." Maxwell, whom the band backed on some of the tracks from his Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, croons softly on "Softly Softly." Vocalist Leroy Osbourne gives Bill Withers' "Hope She'll Be Happier" a tender reading. Some of the instrumental tracks sound like film scores. While others, on first listen, may have you expecting to hear Sade's vocals come in. "Walk of Ju" would fit well in an introspective scene perhaps by an ocean with billowing waves. "Come Dubbing" is both goofy fun and lushly romantic. "Cloud People" is a perfect progressive lite jazz with its light rhythmic synth textures, noodling acoustic and Fender Rhodes pianos, and lazy sax runs. If you're looking for music to relax to, Sweetback is the right album to kick back with. ~ Ed Hogan

Product Details

Release Date:	10/28/2016
Label:	Epic
UPC:	0889853475810
Rank:	37151

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Gaze
2. Softly Softly
3. Sensations
4. Au Natural
5. Arabesque
6. You Will Rise

Disc 2

7. Chord
8. Walk of Ju
9. Hope She'll Be Happier
10. Come Dubbing
11. Cloud People
12. Powder

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sweetback   Primary Artist
Amel Larrieux   Guest Artist,Vocals
Bahamadia   Guest Artist,Vocals
Maxwell   Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
Paul S. Denman   Bass,Bass (Acoustic)
Andrew Hale   Echo,Piano,Theremin,Keyboards,Space Phone,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Moog Synthesizer
Talvin Singh   Tabla
Leroy Osbourne   Vocals
Stuart Matthewman   Echo,Guitar,Theremin,Keyboards,Space Phone,Slide Guitar,Sax (Soprano),Sax (Baritone)
Kudo   Bass,Percussion,Scratching,Synthesizer
Alex Turnbull   Turntables

Technical Credits

Amel Larrieux   Composer
Paul S. Denman   Composer
Andrew Hale   Composer,Programming
Sweetback   Mixing,Producer
Bill Withers   Composer
Ed Tuton   Assistant Engineer
Dave Ivory   Engineer
Musze   Composer
Stuart Matthewman   Reverb,Composer,Programming
Tim Weidner   Mixing
Ian Cooper   Mastering
Paul Wright   Mixing
Kudo   Programming
Andy Gallimore   Assistant Engineer
Donald Christie   Photography
Alan Aboud   Design