Melt Yourself Down – Pray For Me I Don’t Fit In
UK’s capital London has a very interesting and thriving jazz scene with luminaries such as Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Laura Jurd, The Comet Is Coming, Dinosaur and Portico Quartet just to name a few. Another veteran act is Melt Yourself Down who just released their fourth album, entitled “Pray For Me I Don’t Fit In”. Their latest offering can best be described as a musical ode to nonconformity and staying true to one’s musical vision…
Describing the music on “Pray For Me I Don’t Fit In” would take forever and a day, but imagine Talking Heads dabbling with jazz, funk, punk, acid, psychedelica and afrobeat and you’ll get an idea. Another aspect of Melt Your Down is the emphasis on tribal percussion, giving the music a distinct frenetic, yet danceable groove and feel. Tracks like ‘Boots Of Leather’ and ‘Fun Fun Fun’ are great examples of this. Another typical Melt Yourself Down characteristic is that the saxophones accentuate the beats and percussion, instead of playing the main melody. This is aptly shown in a track like ‘Nightsiren’.
Melt Yourself Down – Pray For Me I Don’t Fit In (click here if the video doesn’t play)
Besides the feverish energy, the eclectic musical approach and spot on songwriting this London-based ensemble has another ace up their sleeve, namely the vocal antics of Kushal Gaya. His approach is just as versatile as the music on this album. He does everything from African tribal chants (‘Balance’) to more soul/motown approach (‘All We Have’) to screaming in a megaphone in Spanish (the title track).
Melt Yourself Down – Balance (click here if the video doesn’t play)
Besides more upbeat tracks there are also more laidback tracks with a simmering voodoo-like atmosphere on this album. ‘Ghosts On The Run’ and the aforementioned ‘All We Have’ are great examples of this. Those tracks act as a counterbalance to the overall upbeat character of “Pray For Me I Don’t Fit In”. Add some high end production values in the mix and you’ll understand we’re dealing with a killer record.
Musical nonconformity has never sounded so fresh and funky, yet an unmistakable darkness and danger lurks just around the corner on “Pray For Me I Don’t Fit In”. This is easily Melt Yourself Down’s finest record since “Last Evenings On Earth”. What an incredible trip!
Tracklist:
- Pray For Me I Don’t Fit In
- Boots Of Leather
- For Real
- Nightsiren
- All We Have
- Fun Fun Fun
- Balance
- Sunset Flip
- Ghosts On The Run
- I Got Time
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