He may have suffered from a bout of illness recently, but Junior Jack’s debut solo album confirms he’s in good musical health. After a stellar 2003 with the massive ‘E Samba’ and the Room 5 track ‘Make Luv’, Jack heads for the big time with an array of good tunes.
High on the list is ‘Da Hype’, the uplifting vocals from Robert Smith shamefully neglected by British radio and unexpectedly absent on this promo copy. A huge shame, since the track recalls early Daft Punk but with a stronger vocal personality. It makes for a great start here, and moves straight into ‘Stupidisco’, a brilliant send up of an 80s electronic disco sound, euphoric female chorus and filtered beats combining for a winning formula.
Trust It diversifies from here on, as ‘Fuck The System’ shows an unexpected heaviness, turning more tribal in style. ‘Alone’ moves into a sweet Balearic melancholy, whilst the saxy ‘Hola’ profits from a distinctly Spanish flavouring. Then it’s ‘E Samba’, still massive, although placed a bit too close to the similar sounding ‘Thrill Me’ towards the end of the album. ‘Luv 2 U’ goes all helium voiced, a good injection of humour, but the biggest surprise is saved for the end and ‘Must Be The Darkness’, a spoken word vocal pitched against some tougher break beats. Not quite what you’d expect from the pen of Jack – the cynical might say that he’s trying out all styles to make a varied LP, but he clearly knows his stuff here. At least we avoid the dreaded chill out track so many albums fall victim to!
You’ll have gathered this is a very strong album release from Defected, and one of the best house records currently around. All good dancefloors should have at least one of these tunes!
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