The Funky Friday Afterparty - "The Armada Of Groove" Friday 16.10.20 **8.15PM**

5. We're Free

You don't hear GA doing chill-out much anymore but they do have a knack for it. This is well orchestrated. I'm still discovering this one as it wasn't added to any of my playlists. It's not as instant. It's like a really nice extended interlude.
 
Jark said:
this is indeed Jark's (joint) fave.

those BIG WARM synths CASCADING all over the vista, the slightly fuzzy, lo-fi vibe which really beautifully captures that feeling of stepping into a smaller room at a club and being delighted to find the DJ is playing house or electro rather than techno and SHARING THE LOVE with fifty other bodies. the chopped vocal samples are heaven.
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I currently have 3 faves, this with Talk Talk and What Cha Gonna Do
 
Track five is my favourite so far. Gospel tinged with a backing that is somehow both understated and dramatic. Lovely.
 
This song has jumped from a 6 to an 8 on this listen. Listening to an album in full always helps.

The strings and vocal are gorgeous.
 
We're Free is a nice mellow vibe and that leisurely piano is some vintage shit. but I think it feels a bit disjointed from one section to the next, even though each is perfectly evocative
 
6. Edge Of The Horizon

This is the only other one I'm not totally familiar with, but it's revealing itself a lot more within the context of the album. You don't see that chorus coming do you...
 
For the first couple of seconds, I thought the vocalist was Phil Collins, which wouldn't have been a good thing. That chorus comes out of nowhere are elevates the whole thing.
 
The one word you can attribute to any GA track whether chilled or dance - anthemic.
 
Edge of the Horizon is creeping up on me as it goes on. A real vibe, that chorus is like hitting a switch and unleashing a flood from behind a dam.
 
Jark said:
has @Iguana died? or has @Tisch made him go do the dishes?

don't think we haven't noted your absence :kim:
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Iguana did say that his boss was chasing him to get some work done tonight and law firm bosses generally didn't get where they are by not being total psychopaths.
 
7. Lover 4 Now

GA goes full on Nu Disco. If I didn't know better I'd have said this was a Chromeo track. I've rinsed this song too much now, but it's damn catchy

My only issue is that the vocalist sings like Robbie Williams. Sorry for anyone who can now not unhear that.
 
Track seven has a strong vibe of early Calvin Harris about it. As that was before he gave up and just started releasing the same song over and over again, I am okay with this.
 
I just LOVE the vocal on Lover 4 Now. Todd Edwards' voice is like caramel over those shimmery synths and those SNAPS. his falsetto!!!

Really the synths on this track are the kind of thing that make me feel I need to get serious about producing music. These sounds are crack to me. 10/10
 
OK so the last 4 tracks are all kinds of amazing to me. Bracing myself.
 
8. I Can Only Miss You

This has 80s R&B vibes all over it. The bassline, the piano chords, the epic synths and echo vocals. Lord.

Definite Dev Hynes similarities for me, harking back to early 80s soul - Imagination, Shalamar, Rose Royce mostly spring to mind.
 
I haven't listened to 3 of these last 4 tracks more than once so this is fresh territory for me now.

I Can Only Miss You's vocal and production both remind me quite strongly of PRINCE. This is less of a song and more of an atmosphere piece - really woozy stuff
 
9. What Cha Gonna Do With Your Love

This one has gotten right under my skin. The beat reminds me of early 90s drum loops like on "Justify My Love". Appropriate because this track is filthy in all the right ways.
 
did anyone notice a slight Prince vibe though? probably not, just a wild stab in the dark
 
Jark getting in first with the Prince comparison, but at least I beat ButterTart.
 
Love the layered vocals on this

It feels like they would have spent a long time in the studio perfecting the sound on this one. It's gorgeous.
 
It takes a bit of getting used to that this album has flipped from songs with more of a pop structure in the first half to total hazy mood pieces in its back half/third, but I'm digging it. definitely feeling the Justify My Love sensations here - I like what it's building into as it goes on, the more elaborate production.
 
10. Talk Talk

This was the other instant track the first time I heard the album. LOVE this song. It needs to be a single, not that it makes any difference any more. But it's gorgeous.

Has anyone else noticed that it's almost entirely a male vocal album? Not only unusual for GA, but unusual for moopy...
 
I've also realised that this album needs to be listened to with a proper stereo sound. I normally listen to this in my car and it just doesn't sound the same on my laptop speakers. I'm waiting for layers of production to kick in that I can't hear properly. I'm going for a drive tomorrow just to correct this oversight.
 
well Talk Talk is just an absolute delight. come for the dirty bassline and those sweet, hopeful synths and stay for the melancholy vocal.

you wanna TALK TALK TALK

that drop back from the chorus into the instrumental before the second verse is a moment most pleasing to me.
 
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