Not unlike one of its lead singer
Jay Kay
's much publicized Lamborghinis, the U.K.
funk
band
Jamiroquai
is primarily a vehicle for its frontman's various fetishes. Which is another way of saying that
Kay
loves
disco
and fancy retro sneakers and he wears both well. He has done so ever since he hippie-danced his way out of the
acid jazz
ghetto of the early '90s with
's revelatory debut album,
Emergency on Planet Earth
. That album featured
's bright and soulful vocals against '70s-style
and drew obvious comparisons to
Stevie Wonder
,
Earth, Wind & Fire
, and sundry other icons of vintage
R&B
. Not too much has changed in the years since and 2005's
Dynamite
finds
and Co. delving once again into various '70s- and '80s-inspired
dance
sounds. Similar to 2001's dazzlingly slick
Funk Odyssey
reveals
as a dancefloor eclectic, inclined to grab as much from
Chic
and
Parliament
as
Kajagoogoo
the Police
, and
Terry Callier
. Keeping to this grab bag aesthetic,
makes the most of his experimentation with some "vocal bass synthetics" on the hard
title track. Also engaging is the melancholy
soul
-
folk
of
"Seven Days in Sunny June"
and the similarly
quiet storm
-ready
ballad
"Talullah."
On the funky side of things,
"Starchild"
proclaiming the coming of a
superman while
"Time Won't Wait"
is an infectious
Off the Wall
-era
Michael Jackson
boogie fest with
urging people to make their dreams come true over a bed of pulsating
beats. The
faithful would accept nothing less. ~ Matt Collar