- Variety is the spice of life, the saying goes. Well it’s not always a good thing in the case of dance music albums – too many house and trance affairs have come to an abrupt halt when including a down tempo track, keen to show they can do everything at the expense of quality.
Not so Dubble D, who it seems can apply his musical though to pretty much any style he chooses, helped on Reachin’ Out by the likes of Diane Charlemagne, Nightmares On Wax and Kate Rogers. First, D (real name Danny Ward) turns his attention to solid, four to the floor funk, the groovy bassline of ‘Super Hi’ a good start. Then it’s a dreamy kind of nu jazz for ‘Switch’, a really catchy vocal hook supplied by Latin American idol Flora Purim in duet with her daughter Diana Booker in a winning vocal. From these pseudo house beginnings Dubble D turns to reggae for ‘Love Holds’ and a gorgeously hummable ‘Multiply’, Kate Rogers with the beguiling vocal. It may seem like an abrupt switch but works well in the context of the album.
Q ball and Curt Cazal are the next guests with the atmospheric hip-hop of ‘Would You?’, with Charlemagne making her second appearance in the softly sung ‘Rain’. Closing with the cinematic string track ‘King’, Dubble D brings a richly rewarding mixture to a close.
In fact the album feels like a compilation, so diverse are the styles used, but Dubble D seems to have a multitude of musical personalities and chooses his guests well. There’ll be something for everyone here, but it’s best experienced as a whole.