Unknown
Mortal Orchestra, ex-Mint Chicks front man Ruban Nielson’s offshoot project are
quickly generating a strong musical cannon, and with it a large following, as
they continue to make diverse and interesting sounding indie and psychedelic
pop. The band’s first two albums “Unknown Mortal Orchestra” and “Unknown Mortal
Orchestra II” were two solid first up efforts, however, their latest release “Multi-Love”
trumps both of these as they explore new sounds in the form of funk, jazz and
soul.
“Multi-Love”
has quite an old-school authentic vibe to it both in terms of its sound and
instrumentation. It has a very strong rhythmic feel in the drums and bass,
while the added addition of horns and keyboards means this album has quite a poppy,
almost Motown feel to it in places. This is a different path for the band, as previously
their music held firm to that indie pop/dreamy psychedelic line, which I might
add they did very effectively. But this new direction they have taken on this
album is so damn catchy and sound so, so good. This is a late-60s/early-70s sound
to my ears, but produced in a very contemporary fashion, I guess also
highlighting Nielson’s skills as a producer more than anything and his strong
ability to get the right sound for each song he composes.
The
album kicks off with the title track “Multi-Love”. This is quite a poppy song and
in the opening vocals has shades of early Queen, while that piano riff which
drives the whole song is so effective, indicating also straight off the bat the
funkier direction this album will head down. This is followed by “Like Acid Rain”
which takes a more lo-fi direction, and as a track is very similar to their
previous work. Next are two of the catchier tunes on the album in the form of “Ur
Life One Night” and “Can’t Keep Checking My Phone”. These two tracks are
perfect for the dance floor and I can see clubs going off to these with their
dance-heavy beats, funk grooves and pop melodies. At this midway point of the
album, things change direction again with the alternative jazz of “Extreme
Wealth and Casual Cruelty”. This is a great track which shuffles along nicely before
suddenly out of nowhere the jazz horns come in and you are instantly hit by
their infectiousness. This is UMO doing their take on 80s sophisti-pop, where
saxophones reigned supreme, and although some might accuse Neilson of sax
crimes here, I think the added presence of horns shows how Nielson is willing
to try new sounds and experiment when the song demands it. This is followed by “The
World is Crowded”, a track with a pounding funky bass line, and what I would
call the weakest track on the album “Stage or Screen”. The album then winds
down with the psychedelic funk of the fantastically good “Necessary Evil”, one
of the best tracks on the album, and finally album closer “Puzzles”, another
track which resembles more closely the sound of their past material.
“Multi-Love”
is a fantastic record and I congratulate Nielson for again evolving UMO’s sound
and experimenting on this album. There are some seriously good tunes here which
might even attract the band some new followers, while I am pretty sure these
new songs will be great when performed live. UMO seem to be getting better with
each new release they put out and “Multi-Love” proves this yet again in what is
one of the catchiest pop/funk/soul/jazz/psychedelia albums you will hear all
year. Listen to it now, you will not be disappointed.
A
- Sam
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