Pray For Me I Don’t Fit In - Melt Yourself Down (2022)

If you read about whatever is new and hot in the music world, you’ll know about how many amazing jazz and jazz-adjacent groups are operating out of the UK in the last few years. These guys are part of that scene, but do a lot more than just what you’d call jazz.

This is their fourth album, by my count. They’re all similar, although this is maybe a little more ambitious than the previous ones. There’s jazz and funk, some Afro-beat, and plenty of manic energy combining here to kick you in the butt and make you want to dance. Some of it is programmed, I think, but definitely not those horn blasts. They seem to take a little of whatever is lying about and weave it into a great groove. Then they cut through that with synths and more horns and great sing-along melodies.

Highly recommended.

Tracks I Liked:

Pray For Me I Don’t Fit In - Great riff to launch into the record

Boots Of Leather - sounding a lot like TV On The Radio is a good way to make me like you. But that’s unfair to how good this song is by itself.

Fun Fun Fun - a bass groove that sounds like it’s sampled from an 80s post-punk record, plus a great horn chart and even pop-style backup singers