The story of Blue Lab Beats Take 2018 opened its next chapter recently with the release of their debut album Xover, proportionately celebrated with a vibrant listening party hosted by Jazz Re:Freshed at Portabello Road’s Mau Mau Bar.
Xover is a mammoth 16-track debut with a list of collaborators that reads like a who’s who of the London jazz scene. Having already had plenty of fun with the peppering of singles that came our way prior – Oooo Lala especially capturing our attention – it’s Timeless that we’ve been pulling up on with snare-roll frequency.
Timeless is an inviting and gentle jazz progression laid upon a tight and torsional hip-hop beat – this is a Blue Lab track after all. For the next 5:55, we’re taken on a tour of solos and melodies from featured players, Daniel Taylor, Dominic Canning (a.k.a Doom Cannon), Dylan Jones of Ezra Collective and Ashley Henry. Their contrasting contributions all bring unique character to their passages within the track. Tied together by the residual beat, Timeless feels a lot like being guided around an art exhibition where you might turn a corner and say “Ah, a piece by Dylan Jones, I love these”.
Continuing the success of Xover, Blue Lab Beats will no doubt be performing live frequently throughout the summer. Their next performance will be on 05/05/2018 with Love Supreme at the Roundhouse.
This review of Timeless by Blue Lab Beats was originally posted on the Somewhere Soul Music Blog.