When you’ve achieved the truly sublime, trying to recapture it can be bittersweet. Cymande, for the mere three years they existed in the early 1970s, were one of the very best bands on the planet: a unique mixture of Rasta spirituality and African-inspired percussion with Curtis Mayfield conscious funk plus a particularly British melancholy and melodic hooks for days. It got them a brief flush of fame in the US, but nothing at home and they broke up disillusioned, before being gradually revivified by getting sampled by the biggest names in hip hop.
Since the 1990s, they have reformed in various permutations up to and including the full lineup for various gigs and recordings. Their 2016 comeback album, while by no means terrible, tried to modernise their sound but got stuck halfway through the Eighties productionwise and didn’t really channel the spirit they’d proved they could deliver on the live stage.
This album, however – despite the subsequent passing away of two original members – really does capture that sound and energy. The lilting, liquid guitar lines, insidious bass melodies, heaps of congas and Tony Allen style drum all lock together with unmistakeable Cymande style, and even the way seemingly straightforward social conscience lyrics are given a bittersweet tang of forlorn hope (wondering if they are “chasing an empty dream” as the opening track has it) is uncannily like their classic period.
The whole thing is given a warm bath of lavish string arrangements, which helps keep it fresh, and at various points, particularly on the closing “Darkest Night” and “Carry the Word”, the old magic is fully recaptured. The only issue is that the melody writing doesn’t always have the subtlety that was there before and choruses – most notably on the downright Hollywood-ish “Only One Way” on which guest Celeste belts it out – sometimes tend to the anthemic. Not that that’s exactly bad: indeed laying on the sentimentality does dovetail with the triumph of recapturing a vibe a full half century on… It feels churlish to point out that they haven’t achieved perfection as they once did, because this really is a great record – they’ve absolutely shot for the moon and ended up among the stars.
Listen to "Chasing an Empty Dream":
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