Exodus (1995)
Despite the title, New Power Soul is a solid slab of old-school jazz funk – a genre I have a low tolerance for after overdosing on it in my twenties, but this song could be extended to Herbie Hancock length proportions and I’d still call out for a rewind. There’s an extended version in circulation but at a paltry five minutes it’s still unsatisfyingly short. Featuring no discernible hook apart from the same chant as 1998’s otherwise unrelated Newpower Soul, the Exodus track doses up on background chatter à la Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On? or Got To Give It Up and ends with Mr Hayes’ drunken shouting at the band. This all contributes to the music sounding like a steady dreadnaught riding a choppy sea of bar-room rowdiness. The background soundtrack to a hundred narratives intersecting on a Saturday night, played with soul and heart from the dependable house band. Happy hour foreplay to keep the night bubbling, before it’s time for the crowd to Get Wild.
