Tru Thoughts Vinyl & CDs

Review: Los Angeles trio Catpack, which is made up of Moonchild's vocalist Amber Navran, Jacob Mann and Phil Beaudreau, have delivered a whimsical and heartfelt project with this eponymous album. Featuring 11 tracks including singles 'What I've Found' and 'Walk Away', it embodies a joyful exploration of musical expression rooted in genuine camaraderie and mutual admiration. Navran describes it as "three people with distinct sounds coming together to make something new" while their jazz-influenced r&b blends neo-soul, funk, and electronic elements with quirky synth patches reminiscent of cats meowing. The album's songs, from the assertive 'Walk Away' to the whimsical 'Next To Me', reflect their creative synergy and deep friendship and help make this such a lovely work of sound.

Review: London beatsmith and "city rivims" producer Footshooter is one of a small cadre of inner city artists whose work makes a point of fusing UK jazz, West Coast-ish hip-hop and UK dance production, all tied together by an experimental bow. His latest LP, The Oasis, unveils itself as an upended jazz and broken beat finesser, all while nailing a collaborative form, with studio-mates James Mollison (Ezra Collective), Natty Wylah and Brother Portrait all in tow. Where lead track 'Cycles' evolved from a simple loop, growing in depth and space, Mollison's saxophone brought appended magic; meanwhile, tracks like 'Boomerang' and 'Surrey Canal Road' underscore a mood of hyperlocal, industrial South London poignancy.

Review: New Orleans brass band fixture The Hot 8 Brass Band unveil their latest record, in memory of Bennie Pete aka. "Big Tuba", the late co-founder and sousaphone player of the band. Having passed away on September 6, 2021, Pete was described as a "constant galvanising force", and this galvanic power is heard on full display here, as the top brass of the band are heard to collierly collude with many a New Orleands folk and hip-hop legend. Chief among the Hot 8's best characteristics are their incorporation of New Orleans bounce music (a local variation of hip-hop) into their brass-driven tracks and live shows; the sense of bustle, bombast and crowd commotion is heard here, reflecting the extent of the lives touched by Pete.

Review: "I was diagnosed with ADHD at 15 when I was expelled from school. I often feel like every day is an emotional rollercoaster. This album is a representation of that. It's a journey of high-energy, intense songs and deep, slow, mournful ballads", says Tara Lily, the British-Bengali South Londoner whose been turning heads with her captivating blend of jazz, electronica, trip hop, experimental r&b and Indian-subcontinental musical hues and cues. Produced by Dom Valentino, Speak In The Dark is immediately engrossing, like walking into a room to find an open fire blazing and falling into its spell the moment you take a seat. It's beautiful, and in some moments staggeringly so. It's packed with groove and mood and atmosphere that's somewhere between edge and sophistication, at times closing in on the carnival dnb-pop that Tru Thoughts has always done so well. Simply put, this is the best thing you'll hear for some time.

Review: Following the success of their first collaborative album, 2017's Curao, Will 'Quantic' Holland and Colombian "folkloric" singer-songwriter India Gongora have once more joined forces for a second joint full-length. Designed as a musical exploration of "the nostalgia of impossible love", the set's uniquely eclectic, widescreen sound joins the dots between the traditional styles of Colombia's pacific coast, cumbia, rock, string-drenched South American ballads and the kind of hard-to-pigeonhole, musically intricate productions that were once the preserve of Rotary Connection's Charles Stepney. It's a terrific album all told, with Holland conjuring up genuine musical magic and Gongora delivering some of the most stunning sounding vocals of her career.