The New Mastersounds - Therapy (2014)

The latest album (and ninth studio album) from The New Mastersounds features a dozen new tracks that are a mix of the hard-hitting funk together with some other tunes that are rooted in soul, mod jazz and even disco sounds.

The album gets under way with the high adrenaline deep funk funk of Old Man Noises, dominated by Joe Tatton's Hammond organ grooves and Eddie Roberts' funky wah wah guitar. It's a classic NMS tune that sets things up perfectly for the rest of the album.

Mod jazz influences are to the fore on Morning Fly, a great toe-tapping tune with some Grant Green-esque guitar and a great soul jazz piano solo from Tatton underpinned by a swinging gospel-style rhythm. It's a tremendous, uplifting tune that warrants repeated listens.

I Want You To Stay is the first of the albums vocal tunes, with Kim Dawson guesting. A sunny, soulful tune that, musically, recalls The Isley Brothers sound of the early seventies. Dawson appears again on Soul Sista, a tight piece of funk in fine Lynn Collins style.

When It Rains is an extended instrumental jam with some jazzy vibes laid over a disco/house beat that works really well. It's a tune that will appeal to jazz and funk fans as well as those into more recent dance music.

Monday Meters, Whistle Song and WWIII (And How To Avoid It) are all fine funk tunes and Detox sees Joe Tatton swap the Hammond for a Fender Rhodes on a superb mellow bluesy jazz number.

The New Mastersounds have always been one of the top bands of the generation of funk bands that emerged in the nineties and they just seem to get better and better with each release. The perfect music for the arrival of spring, this Therapy is thoroughly recommended.

Tracklist:

01 Old Man Noises
02 Morning Fly
03 I Want You to Stay (feat. Kim Dawson)
04 Monday Meters
05 When It Rains…
06 Whistle Song
07 Soul Sista (feat. Kim Dawson)
08 Stop This Game
09 Slow Down (feat. Ryan Zoidis)
10 WWIII (And How to Avoid It)
11 Detox
12 Treasure