Sydney-based chillout act Wicked Beat Sound System have certainly emerged as the mainstays of the local downbeat scene, having been the beneficiaries of extensive Triple J radio support and also as a result of their tracks being featured on numerous compilations, both here and overseas. This fifth album through WBSS’ own Wicked Beat imprint “Hydromajestik’ certainly captures the sound of considerable change within the band camp in the wake of longtime member MC Kye’s departure to pursue a solo project in the wake of 2005’s “4ormation.’ Gone are the more outre wanders into hiphop, replaced by a focus that centres in on smooth jazz, downbeat funk and vocal soul, with the band core for this latest record distilled down to just producer and WBSS mainman Damien Robinson and vocalist Linda Janssen.
The lush sleeve art depicting pastures gripped by frost also goes a long way to conveying the sorts of atmospheres surrounding the recording location for “Hydromajestik’; in this case an isolated farm in the rural New South Wales town of Bungendore, during one of Australia’ worst droughts in recorded history. In many senses, “Hydromajestik’ provides a great example of WBSS applying that tried and tested principle; “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, and it’s fair to say that from the first thirty seconds in, previous listeners to WBSS will feel familiarity close in on them from all sides like a comforting fuzzy sweater. Opener “Won’ Let Go’ provides this album’s first single and stands out as being a track poised for radio play, with Janssen’ smooth laidback vocals holding together a chilled backdrop of subtly-placed funk guitar accents, warm Hammond grooves courtesy of Gerard Masters and standard “triphop’ issue downtempo rhythms – while there are certainly plenty of catchy hooks evident in a manner that calls to mind Alice Russell, it hardly shows WBSS reinventing their wheel. Instead, Robinson and Janssen focus on what they’re best at together – melding optimistically-tinged soul lyrics with lush, deep and organic-sounding downbeat productions that occupy similar territory to the likes of latter-day Nightmares On Wax and Zero 7.
While much of this album feels coloured with an isolated, almost hermetic tone that’s no doubt a result of its rural recording environments, “Hydromajestik’ certainly manages to touch on a diverse range of musical touchstones over its twelve tracks, ranging from the strangely unsettling Middle Eastern motif that creeps beneath an inspired reinterpretation of Ewan MacColl’ “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’, through to “Mister’s flirtations with dancehall dub. While the contents here are likely to come across as perhaps too placid and coffee table-oriented for listeners weaned on a diet of leftfield stuff, “Hydromajestik’ still remains an excellent example of the chillout / downbeat genre, and quite frankly, the idea of someone picking this up instead of “Ministry Chillout Annual Vol. 365′ can only be a reassuring thing.
Chris Downton
