Within the first ten seconds of the opening track ("Take What You Need") of The New Mastersounds' eighty studio album, Breaks From the Border (Tallest Man Records, 2011), you know that this is a much different offering from the four-piece funk act from Leeds, England. For starters, there are vocals, which are like hen's teeth on NMS records. Majority of the eleven tracks feature harmonies reminiscent of Sly and the Family Stone ("Can You Get It," "Turn It Up") or Cream ("Free Man"), and even a few curses all layered nicely over the group's signature grooves.
Though the instrumentation has certainly changed from past albums as well. The sound here is much more aggressive as opposed to albums such as Ten Years On (One Note Records, 2009) or 102% (One Note Records, 2007), that can occasionally sound like the menu of some 70s blaxploitation DVD. Breaks From the Border does a good job at remaining silky-smooth without reminding the listener of a dentist's waiting room. It captures the energy of their live performances much more accurately than in the past which
The album can be purchased here. Or one of their live performances can be downloaded for free here.
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