London DJ-pack Groove Armada has made the "chill" sound as much a science as an art. In their latest album, Lovebox, the group continues to innovate while still retaining the compelling bass, rhythm and guitar licks that typified their work from Vertigo to Hello Nightclub.
A pleasantly adulterated rendition of Hendrix classic "Purple Haze" kicks the album off. Though hard to recognize without help from the liner notes, the track is a welcome departure from traditional electronic rapings of classic tunes, e.g. Paul Oakenfold's "remix" of U2's "New Year's Day." During the album's halftime, "Final Shakedown," we are privy to the professions of a large bass-heavy man on how much he wants to get high. Really high. Like, whoa. Yet for some reason, the track resounds as one of Lovebox's strongest.
Listening to Lovebox without prior exposure to the Armada will leave you wondering how many bands are on the disc. From track to track, the album jumps from groove to funk to rock to ballad to house and all the way back to groove. An eclectic album, as far as the London music scene is concerned, Lovebox, taken as a whole, is musical ear-chocolate. The groove's the tin wrapper, the beats are the chocolate, the rock's the nougat and the funk's the prized almond in the middle.
So next time you bring a girl or guy back to your room after an enchanted evening, and you're pretty sure DMB's sex-classic "Say Goodbye" will get yourself slapped in the face, pop this aural Toblerone into the HiFi. You'll either end the evening laid, stoned, pumped up or ready to fight someone. Any way you look at it, you win.
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