ManaLion – Nothing II Lose
(Independent)
Reviewed by Tim Gruar.
Back in August last year I had a conversation with the Black Seed’s Barnaby Weir about production work and he told me about his new production project. He was keen to promote ManaLion’s artistic diversity and their immense musical chops. He promised an album worth waiting for. Now it’s finally dropped. And he was right. Nothing II Lose (also co-produced by Tiki Taane and Blindspott’s Paul Matthews) is a real monster of eclecticism and super-grooves, with a back bone of deep roots, funk and dub.
ManaLion is a creative brainchild of duo “Mondo” and “Duan & Only” who combine a plethora of musical influences into their music ranging from Soul to Roots, Funk to DnB, and Gangsta Rap to Hardcore. After 6 years of practicing, they’ve honed down their style to a captivating, high-energy music which they describe as ‘Alt/Pop Fantasy Reggae’. All 11 of these dynamic tracks are killers – no fillers – with a variety of genre-bending song that suck up inspiration and styles from Motown, Marley, The Police, AC/DC, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Tom Jones, Soundgarden and even Dr. Hook.
It all kicks off with the BBQ friendly dub-groover ‘Apple Tree’, which is bonded tightly to a phat bassline and hooky chorus. But don’t think that this is yet another slice of Kiwi Reggae, in the Katchafire mould. It’s way better. ‘Breakdown’ takes you off on a different, more pop influenced tangent. There are some delicious synths in the undercurrent of the introductory percussion on this number. Along with super-sensitive sweet vocals, it’s a real keeper. ‘Voyage’ goes totally mainstream, with a big infectious chorus. Don’t be surprised if samples of this one end up in a commercial sometime soon. Then on ‘Wizard & the Witch’ the duo totally embrace their own, self styled ‘Alt/Pop Fantasy Reggae’. If Led Zep were a Poly-Funk Dub crew then this is what Stairway to Heaven could have sounded like.
Lifting a groove or two from the Black Seeds, ‘Harvey HotLap’ blends in plenty of summer festival vibes with 70’s dancefloor beats and soul. Halfway through the number amps up to a guitar grinding bridge before switching back again, like a cresting wave. You can see people going crazy in this year’s mosh pits over this tune.
Another track worth mentioning is ‘Sucker Punch’. This slower, but ultra-cool earworm has plenty of beach radio appeal. It would sit perfectly with any Six60 track on the playlist. The chorus recycles more of that jazzy summer festival vibe, with a nice modern twist on the old Sam & Dave platter party 45’s. ‘Video Games’ gives a bit of a nod to Fat Freddy releases like Wandering Eye and Silver and Gold and, vocally, you can almost imagine Joe Dukie on the mic. The changing tempo squeeze every last drop out of the straight forward band line up: bass, guitars and drums. It really shows how well skilled these musicians are. Towards the end of the album everything slows down with the smoochy ‘Move On You’ and the sensitive relationship saver ‘Long Way Home’. Then, almost as an after thought, there’s the simply divine campfire acoustic closer ‘Alright’ to take you home.
The production on this album feels like a Surgery Album, with that undefinable goodness vibe. You can hear Weir’s influences in the subtleties and around the edges. And so too, is the funky magic of Tiki Taane present on some of the bigger moments. Both men know their way so well around Aotearoa reggae (if you can call it that). It complements and enhances the ManaLion sound giving you a really satisfying taste experience, perfect sounds for your next BBQ in the back garden or road trip up the coast.
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