Nov 20, 20234 min read

New Tunes Showcased at The Lounge

Saturday 11th November finally rolled around! How we have missed you guys at The Lounge!

What a night it was! By now, you'll have heard alllll about it, I'm sure! It was a wonderful night from start to finish, with some beautiful familiar faces, old friends and new, and a great party atmosphere!

NEW TUNES

We chose Saturday 11th November at The Lounge to showcase the new additions to the set, and it seemed like you really dig them!

We had a brand new Tarrus Riley - His reggae-come-pop single, Superman. We chose this because it's a beautiful song and it's a little bit different. It's got much more of a pop feel to it, and the intro we extended to show off the saxophone and keys was just so pretty. It's a little different in the vocals as well - not only has it got very bouncy, loquacious verses, but the lead and supporting vocal split off from each other and sing different melodies. We thought we'd give it a try because we love something a little different!

If we were to record the new tunes, we've decided the album would be called 'Not the one you're

thinking of' (credit to Anna). We added a new Gregory Isaacs tune to the mix. But not Night Nurse. We did that earlier in the year! This time around we've added to rootsy, heavily-harmonied 'Border' to the set list. This tune fits perfectly with our conscious vibe, alongside tunes like Valley of Jehoshaphat, Soldiers and Promised Land, and is a classic that any serious reggae fan would know. It's also quite traditionally reggae in it's style, so even if you don't know it, you catch the vibe. The decorating horns and keys top it off for me. Lots of shiny sprinkles in there.

We also added a Toots and the Maytals tune which is one of the unsung heroes of the tracks of 'In the Dark': Revolution. Drummer Harry Bryan introduced us to this tune when we went to Skamouth, and we've been in love ever since, to be honest! The layers of harmony are to die for. The lead vocals are different, challenging and like warm butter melting over a piece of perfectly toasted bread...or warm toffee sauce oozing down the side of a steamed pudding. I'm not hungry, it's just my way of saying it's delicious! We got creative to match the subdued backing of the song, and I stuck my cup mute in to quieten down the harmony to Anna's flute! Yes, flute! It also means she has a vocal mic in front of her, so she's getting more confident at putting in the odd bit of singing alongside Dawn and Sugar!

We had a lot of fun adding another Chronixx tune into the mix. We really feel Chronixx as a band. We had a lot of fun with 'Who Knows'. Now, there's the original, which is insightful and rhythmic and just great. There's also a drum and bass remix by ShyFX. So we combined elements of both to create it. It was a great opportunity to show off Dawn's vocals on the chorus and for Sugar to learn another 3500 words for the verses, too! We took the brass line that we started with from the drum and bass version, which is just really cool.

And to top it all off, we put in a new medley! This is to go alongside our party vibe from The Dancehall Medley. Now, when I were a lass I would get ready to all those tunes on a Friday or Saturday night. I still do, sometimes! But there were a few tunes that didn't make it into The Dancehall Medley that deserved a little showcase. If you're a person who gets seriously into one of those uplifting reggae beats, or those dirty dirty bass lines, you will love Barrington Levy just as I do. 'Here I Come' is an ambitious tune to pull off with a live band, but I knew we could do it. We've been umming and arring, back and forth, about where to start with the medley. Sugar suggested 'She's Mine', which is honestly the sweetest and catchiest little ditty. It's extremely easy to get into so we started there. After that, a tune that so so many people have suggested would fit us perfectly, 'Too Experienced'. That seemed to get you all going! Then we started the bass line that everyone knows...but, again, it isn't what you think! We took a little dub spin around 'Black Roses' before finally hitting 'Here I Come'. The stabs are so very cool. It went down so well with you guys, I don't think we'll be able to top the reaction anywhere else, but we'll sure as heck try!

We just had an all-round great time with you guys! We shouted most of you out in the little videos

we put up on Sunday, but it was great to meet those of you we hadn't met yet, and wonderful to see our reggae family. You mean so very much to us. You make our hearts full and glad!

We sincerely thank Andy Thompson and Lagerlife Limited for booking us once again at one of our favourite venues. As always we want to thank dB Acoustics and congratulate Gio on his first gig with us and for perservering with difficulties along the way. Smashed it, geeza!

We are working hard this week getting ready to back The Dualers in Wolverhampton on Saturday, where we'll be tightening up some of those new additions. We don't know what it's going to be like, because we haven't done much in the way of support, but Dualers supporters seem like a really lovely bunch, and we've got Skaman Ade to work alongside, so at least one person will love us, cause he already does, and we love him too!