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Mark de Clive-Lowe

Heralded by the global music community, Mark de Clive-Lowe is an underground phenom. The bouncy, cross-cultural rhythms and electro-funk synthesizers expressed within his musical configurations are boisterously distinct – pronounced even to the slightest subtleness of sonic enunciations. Clive-Lowe has mastered a unique sound. And saddling at its very foundations are eclectic blends of nu-soul, broken beat, nu-jazz, and synth-based funk.

MdCL’s latest offering, Renegades, treads the staves of this very formula, and adds to it a host of notable guests, each crossing paths (some not for the first time) with the well-traveled musician/producer to design a cross-continental sphere of electronic treasures that selflessly unravels itself with each listen. Just loose enough, the album’s grooves are built mostly around mid-tempo rhythms, bustling as if they were notations trotting across a vast ocean, free with no blockades in sight. The set: A sonic exploration, cosmically channeling and expounding upon Clive-Lowe’s most noted, and much celebrated release to date, Tide’s Arising.

The tribal opener, “Alabi,” is a short interlude that serves as a hinted prerequisite to the extended Sandra Nkake closer that it’s based on. The festive, and probably already eminent standout, “Get Started,” is a percussive, broken beat extravaganza featuring legends, Omar Lye-Fook and Sheila E. The fast-paced excursion is just the first of many exceptional numbers served on this offering. The chill, mid-tempo gem “Everything” starts out like a Stevie Wonder track from Music of My Mind or Talking Book, and features house vocalist Ovasoul7 over smooth and dreamy delights that just seems to end too soon.

A pair of interludes,“(Just Wanna)” and “Just Wanna Lil’ More,” features revered bassist Pino Palladino. The parent track flows beautifully along a realm of spacey keys, synths, and bass, while its predecessor, now with added drums, is sped. The sound is marvelous, coming off like the frameworks of a modern-day Weather Report, or George Duke, improve. But, could these interludes have been condensed into one magnificent instrumental that would’ve given Pino the opportunity to solo (e.g., Jaco)? And this exact question can be applied to another set of short instrumentals, the ‘Lil John Roberts featured “Interlude I” and “Interlude II.”

However, no other feature is more prevalent throughout this release, perhaps, than that of songstress Nia Andrews. Her presence etches a permanent stamp on the set, as she lends her vocals to five of the fourteen tracks presented. “The Why” is one of many tracks to feature the long-time collaborator. It has the classic Clive-Lowe electro-soul styling – synth-heavy and melodic, with pulsating kick drums that’s reminiscent of a healthy heartbeat. The sheer brilliance of Miguel Atwood-Fegurson’s string arrangement towards the song’s end adds memorable pleasantry to an already infectious track. “We Renegades,” is a minor-tinged, fiery composition that sounds sourer than any other groove crafted on the project. The syncopated bass hopping of “Hooligan” punches the eardrum as the listener inevitably encounters a delightful key change, and is, in turn, soothed by a charming jazz flute and Mizell-esque piano chords. Dreamy tickles of electric piano bells paints the gratifying atmosphere of the track, “Emergency,” while the sporadic and high-energy standout, “Push,” pairs Andrew with the sensational nu-soul stunner, Bembe Segue (another stable in the Clive-Lowe camp).

“Everything is everything, but just what does it mean?”

From New Zealand, to the United Kingdom, to who-knows-where, and now Los Angeles, MdCL has become the gold standard, or sorts, in the nu-soul and broken beat genres. Renegades is montage of his past and present subtly hinting at a direct future within its fourteen tracks – a future that will undoubtedly yield even more bits of unprecedented musical explorations.

-Julius Thompson