Review: Peacey - Play It By Ear (Atjazz Record Company)

Atjazz Record Company have excelled themselves with Peacey's debut album as they 'Play It By Ear'.

We've been excited by the earlier singles, 'Playground' featuring Rona Ray (see review HERE), 'Culture Bandit' featuring Vanessa Hidary (see review HERE), 'Hold Me Back' featuring Clyde & Atjazz (see review HERE) that are all including here but we didn't expect another 13 high quality modern soul drenched tracks.

Head straight for 'Falling Down' featuring Sarai Jazz (great name BTW), 'Love In The Forest' featuring OVEOUS (Oh! That's a voice to slip into!), 'Find A Way' and 'Running' featuring Sabrina Chyld, 'The Mandarin Affair' featuring Clyde, 'In The Distance' featuring Laroye and ending with 'Don't Send Us Back' featurig Emilie Chick [as featured on the March Colour & Pitch Sessions mix - see below].  All new names for us to follow in the future.

It's hard to comprehend that this is a debut album as it's so deep throughout that's melds house, R&B soul, nu-jazz beats, boogie in a fusion of Atjazz style pleasure. It's the opposite lightness bass to the dark bass of Timedance/Ilian Tape (see 'BeatutySick' review HERE: wouldn't it be fun if they did remixes for each other?).

This is going to be featured on many a play (it by ear) as tracks like 'Running' and 'Don't Send Us Back' are just perfect for club and radio ('Running would be even better with a 12" version with dub-extensions - watch this space) whilst the Atjazz collab on 'Afternoon Delight' is a heavy post-dubstep UKG jazz up (great trumpet and another that could go super dubby).

Whilst the artwork indicates that this album is 'taken' from lots of different records/vinyl/styles, if you play it by ear, it's mostly definitely Peacey - many thanks 'Dear Uncle Tim' for being an inspiration. 

Colour and Pitch · Colour and Pitch Sessions with Sumsuch - March 2024

Artist: Peacey

Title: Play It By Ear

Release date: 5th April 2024

Label: Atjazz Record Company

Catalog Number: ARC230AD Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Peacey - Culture Bandit (feat. Vanessa Hidary) (Atjazz Record Company)

Cultural bandits get exposed whilst you dance to the Nuyprican house of Peacey. 

The 'angry' and insightful spoken word poetry of Vanessa Hidary (to match up with/against  Philly's CRT Kameelah Waheed (see review HERE), there is a prospect of hope and peace comes with her greedy Kimchi cultural thief.

It kinda sounds heavy, well, compared to Daniel Wang's view of New York 90s house parties and living with RuPaul (Ed. amazing) but were not judging hear as we get even deeper in the cultural primordial beats with an Osunlade Yoruba Soul Mix (times two) and Atjazz vocal/instrumental remixes; blimey, this harks back to BBE/Soul Jazz Records at their peaks.

No wonder that it's featured on this months' Colour & Pitch Sessions mixtape (see below).

'Culture Bandit' is from the forthcoming Peacey album ‘Play It By Ear’, like the first single, 'Hold Me Back' featuring Clyde & Atjazz (see review HERE), it's going to be another close thing for 'Album Of The Year' to South Beach Recycling (see review HERE) that came out at a similar time last year on the same label - what a year for Ajazz!

Colour and Pitch · Colour and Pitch Sessions with Sumsuch - November 2023

Artist: Peacey
Title: Culture Bandit (feat. Vanessa Hidary)

Release date: 15th December, 2023 vinyl 01.12.23

Label: Atjazz Record Company

Catalog Number: ARC230ADS2 Digital / Bandcamp