Black Grape – ‘Pop Voodoo’ (out June 30th 2017 via UMC)

Happy days. Black Grape return with new single and album to boot! The band described thus “always were a grimily cosmic musical jigsaw, melding rock, hip-hop, acid house, psychedelic pop and reggae with Shaun Ryder’s gutter poetry, delivered in his inimitable shyster’s bark” and i swear that it;s no word of a lie.

So what to expect in 2017 from the mid-1990’s swagger days? Commenting on the new ‘Pop Voodoo’ album, Shaun says, “We had a great time making the album – we wrote, recorded and mixed it within four weeks.” Kermit adds that the album is, “Me and Shaun eyeball to eyeball.” If this review feels a little over the top already, it just it has been a while, this is the band’s first new material in 20 years. Ryder and Kermit have teamed up with producer Youth (Martin Glover) on this album, who has previously worked with the likes of The Verve, U2, Primal Scream, Guns N’ Roses, Pink Floyd and Depeche Mode to name but a few.

So to the lead single also titled ‘Pop Voodoo’ which impacts on 30th June via UMC. The single fuses a collection of styles as you may suspect, even their in yer face vocals intact, seems after their twenty stretch the end result the band emerge with a more styled approach, nothing has seemingly changed, it’s updated but not diminshed, grooves are aplenty. Black Grape and Youth have cooked up something fresh gorilla musings which sound just as warm and good as ever. 8/10

Steve Janes

http://www.blackgrapeofficial.com

Live Dates

1st July Brixton O2 Academy London

22^nd July Splendour Festival Nottingham

4^th August Hope & Glory Festival Liverpool

27^th August Moovin Festival Stockport