This rather dated, Smooth FM ready, Jazz/Funk Lite album, “Await” flips between bouts of clichéd funky trip-hop licks, musical phrases that promote obligatory chin stroking movements, and occasional lyrics that are so cringy they are almost amusing. I’m referring specifically to “Ancient Vibes” where the words “Let’s do the Tribal Dance – whooo yeah” are uttered over some smooth saxophones. Ouch.
XILKE has a voice that sounds very much like Cassandra Wilson; that is, deep, seductive and chocolaty, and this is her saving grace. There is no doubting the musical expertise of the people involved with this album. However, it gets a little repetitive, and some of the ideas are contrived to say the least, e.g. Buddhist chanting mixed over “Nice” jazz bass lines, and, yakky self-indulgent poetry.
|
I’m not an expert on jazz by any means, but as polished as this album is, it drips with pretension, and I would only really put it on as background music, and only then if I was living in the 1980’s and I was holding a cocktail party for a load of shoulder-padded yuppies who wouldn’t know any better.
|
