Masterfully-produced album
Horace Andy is a Jamaican reggae singer who is known for his unique vocals. He’s been active since 1967 and continues to make amazing albums this far in his career. His latest album, Midnight Scorchers released on September 16th, 2022.
This album starts off with the track “Come After Midnight.” This track is a masterfully-produced intro. The synthesizers and violin contribute heavily to this track making it a great intro. Andy’s voice also fits very well on the track as it complements the drums very well. This is a very laid-back and mellow track that doesn’t feel too overextended even though it is over 4 minutes and has minimal vocals. “Midnight Scorcher” has the same vibe as the first one. This track features Daddy Freddy on it. His voice is very unique and at first it seems jarring, but as the track goes on the listener gets more used to it, and it actually seems to fit the instrumental amazingly. Another thing about it is that just like the first track, the synthesizers add so much to the beat and make it a great one.
“Away With The Gun and Knife” is the next track, and this track has more of Andy’s vocals than the previous two tracks. What’s great about this is that the beats on this album and Andy’s voice are both so unique and they fit each other really well which makes this album such an enjoyable listening experience. “Dirty Money Business” features Daddy Freddy again. On this track, the horns stand in the spotlight and they are great at fitting on the track as well. The synthesizers are prominent as well but it was nice hearing another aspect of the instrumental stand out. Without the horns, the track would not have as much that separated it from the other tracks. This track then transitions to “Sleepy’s Night Cap.” This track is just a 3-minute-long instrumental, however, it is amazing as it has so much variety that it doesn’t drag.
“Feverish” is the most popular track on the album. This is surprising as the instrumental is one of the more non-mainstream ones, but it also makes sense since this track’s production is amazing and Andy’s voice fits very well. “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” brings back the amazing violin from the first track. Once again, the production is masterful. This track deserves a lot more popularity because not only is the instrumental one of the best on the album but it’s also not as eccentric as some of the other ones on the record. “Dub Guidance” features Lone Ranger. His verses seem more like background vocals rather than an actual feature however this is because of the volume levels of the instrumental. This could have been done on purpose but it makes the track seem less unique to the other ones on the album and Andy could have made this feature more prominent on the track. “Hell and Back” is one of the more catchy beats on the album and is a great outro to this great project.
Overall, this record was filled with amazing production and great vocals by Horace Andy. The instrumentals were very unique and fit his voice very well. On the first listen, it might seem a bit eccentric and experimental but it all flows together very well and is a masterfully constructed album.
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