SkyTalk: Days In The Sun

A new trio coming out of New York, SkyTalk finds the Steinberg twins, Talor on guitar and Jordan bass and vocals, teaming up with drummer Ello Costello to forge paths new. Now I don't often get to say that, 99.9% of bands more interested in mimicking their heroes of old than laying their own musical personality bare. And yet to describe the debut EP from this threesome, Days In The Sun, as particularly groundbreaking could be a stretch.

Born out of a love of progressive music this talented bunch of chaps soon realised they also shared a passion for funk grooves and soul moves, and hence Days... is an amalgam of both; the sound freshly vintage. Costello lays down beats thick and thunderous, allowing Jordan's bass to roam and Talor's guitar to dart hither and thither. It's also a theme of where Jordan's voice likes to head, few boundaries placed upon the trio other than to groove, whether they be skirting the edge of the funk, or sitting slap bang in the middle of it. If there's a sticking point, then it's maybe not quite knowing when to turn the tap off, or at least stem the flow somewhat, repetitive choruses barely corralled by the tumult of notes, chords and vocal forays. "Say" is probably most readily accessible and yet even here there's a feeling that had a little more restraint been shown, the results would be all the more engaging.

That said, it's hard not to be impressed by the off piste guitar flurries revealed on "Foot Traffic", while the EP's title track adds in a dreamy introduction before the escalating chord sequences jar and jolt. Even though it comes first on this five tracker, it does offer welcome variance, for while the themes are progressive and the execution funkily different, things can sometimes feel shackled either by the need for both elements to be shoehorned in, or indeed by the lack of variety it results in.

Early days for this trio and while it's easy to be taken by the manner in which SkyTalk go about their business, it isn't quite so simple to say that the journey through those Days In The Sun is one I'll take regularly. After all, into every life a little rain must fall...

Track Listing
1. Days in the Sun
2. Hearing the Silence
3. Fall Awake
4. Say
5. Foot Traffic

Added: April 24th 2016
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: SkyTalk on Bandcamp
Hits: 1513
Language: english

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