Saturday, 13 February 2021

REVIEW: The Sound of Pop Art – ‘To Dream The Most Fabulous Dream’ (Heavy Soul Records)

 

The Sound of Pop Art is the musical vehicle for Chris Free, formerly of Respond label act, A Craze, and also featuring Sara Onyett-Goan who was previously with The Cherry Orchard.

Their latest album on Heavy Soul Records, ‘To Dream The Most Fabulous Dream’, is a beautifully crafted collection of jazz-tinged and chilled songs, including a surprise cover of a Jam song.

Starting with ‘New Wave NRG’, we are given a delightful and bouncy late 60s pop number with some lovely backing vocals from Sara.

‘Buddha Rocks’ is a guitar boogie number in a 12-bar pattern that grooves along nicely, demonstrating a clean and precise mix. This is followed by ‘Velvet Nights’ which is very jazz-tinged in a 1984/85 Style Council kind of vibe – chilled, laid back and irresistible. It’s almost as if Merton Mick himself is there. Close - it’s actually Toby Kinder from Tiny Flaws and the Gene Drayton Unit (and mixed by Andy Crofts).

Next up is ‘The Day Never Happened’, starting with a slow trumpet riff a little reminiscent to the start of ‘Stereotype’ by The Specials before opening up into another wonderfully relaxing jazz influenced piece.

‘Into The Meadows’ is a little harder edged but still with great backing vocals and flute. ‘Kingfisher’ follows and this is a very pastoral guitar picking and slide guitar song, gentle and a song that could easily be from a Paul Weller solo album (think 22-Dreams period). Piano and strings are introduced as the song progresses. This is followed by ‘Stop The World’ which is, again, in that lovely Style Council chilled vibe with a lovely touch of organ and trumpet.

We then get TSOPA’s version of The Jam’s ‘Shopping’ from that period when Weller’s writing was certainly moving in the direction of TSC. This reworking keeps that lovely acoustic-jazz feel and adds a nice touch of piano between verses, and ending with a line from ‘Circles’. A brave choice but successfully executed.

‘Waking Up In Paris’ was written whilst cat-sitting for French Boutik and is a nice groover with added trumpet and, once again, really good harmonies and backing vocals from Sara. ‘September Rain’ is next and feels like a lazy Sunday morning. Waking up late, having a coffee and slowly getting into the day. The trumpet and piano add some riffing and texture and both work really well.

Track 11 is ‘A Voodoo Sensational’ and this funks things up somewhat and drives the song on in yet another style. The final track on the album is the title song, ‘To Dream The Most Fabulous Dream’, and this is another catchy 60s influenced pop number. It bounces along before remerging at half-speed – almost like the title track to a Sixties movie in the genre of ‘Up The Junction’. And then off it goes again to finish with a bit of pace.

Eleven of the twelve songs are written by Chris Free and this really is a beautifully written, performed and produced album of dreamy songs from this Cambridge based outfit.

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BREAKING NEWS: The Threads will be playing Mods Mayday 2025 at 229 The Venue, London, on 4th May

  Tickets are available from: - https://www.seetickets.com/event/mods-mayday-2025/229/2965419?fbclid=IwY2xjawGq7kRleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHTBw6PGqf...