If any more proof were needed that we are in a post-genre world, one where the rules of sound and scene have been swept away, where the old tribal and sonic demarcations count for nothing anymore, then it is found in “Purple Paradise” and the people behind it, The Barefoot Bandit
Like the woefully overlooked Subject A, The Barefoot Bandit is writing ska and reggae’s next chapter, one where it goes beyond the old comfort zones and expectations and pushes out into what were once seen as creative no-go areas for the genre’s musicians but which are now proving prolific sonic pastures new – folk, pop and even more ambient realms.
“Purple Paradise” is full of reggae grooves and ska moves, but it is also woven with folk finesse and pop-aware contagion, a lightness of touch, and a hazy, almost psychedelic vibe. It wields these bold new sonic brush strokes not in place of the more expected hues of old, the ones that we might have come to expect from a band working with such a sound, but alongside them.
The result is a song that balances the old with the new and looks to past glories as it strides into a bright new future for the genre. For a genre that, in the past, at least, has talked so much about revolution, this is, ironically, the sound of musical evolution in action. Sonic evolution.
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