SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MONKS ROAD SOCIAL – HUMANISM

Monks Road Social
Humanism
Monks Road Records

Humanism is the third full album for the collective known as Monks Road Social.  Featured artists on this album include: Mick Talbot (Style Council), Dr Robert (Blow Monkeys), Crispin Taylor (Galliano), Matt Deighton (Mother Earth) and Peter Capaldi (yes, Dr. Who!).

Dr. Robert is clearly at the helm of this ship but all of his guests have a great deal to contribute. It is an album full of surprises and unexpected turns. As you are listening, you think you know where it is going to go, then, wham! You veer left when you thought you might veer right.

“If I Could Pray” featuring Peter Capaldi is a  highlight  and should be a hit. However there are many surprises that stay with you long after the needle has lifted off the record. Kathryn Williams’ stunning vocals on the smoky “Give It All A Mix” come and go far too quickly and Dr. Robert’s duet with Sulene Fleming (“Step By Step”) could sit comfortably on the best Blow Monkeys’ album. His vocals are pure and she answers him masterfully throughout.

The songs are extremely well-produced. Even though there is no standard ‘band’, there is a cohesiveness to this record not often found these days. In some respects, the album has a feel of older albums; retro without being derivative.

All of these songs add up to one incredible album. The flow is near perfect, when it shouldn’t be, as musically, it is all over the map. Rock, pop, jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, dance and yet in the end it all comes together to form a perfect listening experience. Dr. Robert deserves a great deal of the credit but so does everyone who contributes to his vision of the perfect album.

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