Play 90 second soundbite of 'JCB' @ 'CD quality'
Having just embarked on a mini tour of album launch gigs, acoustic duo, Nizlopi, found themselves on home turf last night in Leamington Spa. Wilde's Wine Bar, a cellar venue was packed with invited ticket holders to help the lads' new venture on its way. The appreciative but often noisy crowd were encouraged to join in with the lads and sing along with their catchy, simplistic brand of lyrics.
The album itself is a revelation, containing eleven great tracks mixed with guest appearances of a string quartet, a horn section, keyboards, flamenco guitar, drums/percussion, Uillean pipes and whistles and guest harmony vocals by none other than Carina Round. The simple acoustic thing we've come to expect from the live Nizlopi has been mixed engineered and produced to an extremely high standard for this album. Luke's acoustic guitar, bodhran and skull shaker and John's double bass, guitars, banjo and beat box are still to the fore but the 'extras' add depth and feeling to the already exceptional songs. Luke's boyish and charming lyrics are still there as we would expect. Lines such as, '...all this sticks to me, sometimes sweet like honey, sometimes tart like marmite...' How many times have you heard Marmite in a song before? Typical Nizlopi!!
The running order has been well thought out to create a freshness of feel. On first hearing, the listener's never sure what will come next - a 'rap' number, a folksy ballad, a love song (well they're all love songs I suppose!), a funky calypso. Soulful horns follow string quartet, simple follows complex follows subtle - and so on!
This is a fine album which has been independently made and family funded which highlights the natural talents of two young and exciting lads. I hope it sees them break into the higher echelons of the music business.
See it - buy it!!
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