Me and My Friends release their new album, Look Up, on Split Shift Records. The band play soulful, poignant, danceable music, subtly referencing many styles, including vintage Ghanaian highlife, Jamaican roots and Afro-Brazilian folk. The UK-based quintet create a timeless sound with a global outlook, performed with an infectious energy, and the result is instantly recognisable, highly original and truly genre-defying...

On Look Up the voice and West African finger-picking guitar style of songwriter Nick Rasle is cradled by vocal harmonies and the evocative combination of cello and clarinet, all underpinned by a rhythm section with a deep sense of groove. The album draws heavily on early '70s acoustic soul, as well as the modal ‘Ethiopiques’ of Mulatu Astatke and the minimalism of the Penguin Café Orchestra. Built on deceptively simple, yet richly satisfying grooves, the songs explore timeless themes of friendship (‘Another Lifetime’), commitment (‘Promise Me This Much’) and nostalgia (‘High As The Sun’).

Even if you're not overly a fan of the music on this release, you can't help but be impressed by the infectious style and sound that the band produce. It truly is original in both flavour and delivery.

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Nick Smithson