By Charlie Maybee
LowDown Brass Band is back to show off their eclectic mix of jazz, reggae, dancehall, and hip-hop influences on their new album LowDown Nights. With elements of soul and R&B flowing through the various grooves, this is the kind of album that is endlessly cool, fun, and danceable.
Within the first few moments of the opening track “Ranura de la Noche, there is no doubt you will find yourself moving; if not in the shoulders and hips, then at the very least with a cool bobbing of the head to the beat. If you take the flawless pop choruses by musicians like Bruno Mars and Ricky Martin, mix them with the thoughtful rhymes of Kendrick Lamar, and rest it gently on a steady foundation jazzy swing, that’s where LowDown Brass Band seems to find their niche.
The Chicago-based band has truly outdone themselves here with incredible songwriting and production that make for a thoroughly enjoyable album that feels like it has something for everyone. Lyrically, the songs span an array of topics: some written to be pure fun, some to be more sensual and intimate, and even some thoughtful pieces about the Black influence of the various genres that LowDown Brass Band engages on popular culture.
The range of influences are wrangled flawlessly into a titillating album that flows from one bop to the next. There’s sure to be a gem for any party playlist for the upcoming year, so hop on it and let it take you on a nocturnal journey.
LowDown Nights is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud. Follow our Alchemical Weekly Spotify Playlist for more great music featured on the site.
Go see LowDown Brass Band at the 9:30 Club on March 19 at 8 p.m.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
