In the short time that I have been aware of Near Death Experience, I have come to love their brand of funky soul. Often, a style that goes big errs on the side of the sonically brash, sometimes to the point of being bombastic; with this London outfit, we find a band that plays that card much more subtly.
They do this by leaving space in their music. The acoustic guitar brings an openness and lets the light in a way perhaps more reminiscent of folk music than soul, but it is a clever move. It means that the funky beats, sultry bass lines, and electric guitar licks aren’t smothered or lost, allowing their collective groove to sit front and center.
Its party music just as infectious as that made by those big soul bands of yore, only with fewer but no less effective musical building blocks. One of those component parts that can’t be overlooked is the seductive, and at times wonderfully arabesque, saxophone that wanders in and out and through and behind and under the other instruments, a sort of sonic glue that ties everything together, smooths things off and adds additional poise and polish.
All that is left then is for Ian Whiteling to wax lyrical about the nature of love and relationships and muse on whether the heartache that follows any breakup is worth the happier times that now stand in opposition to how he feels.
The main track comes with an extended version, which takes the song to even more lush sonic realms and the story to its logical conclusion, as well as a “Lost in the Mix” version for those moments when you want something more chilled and cinematic.
Whichever version you opt for, you find Near Death Experience doing what they do so well: a great song and a band discovering new places to take the funk and soul sound.
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