Nightmares On Wax – Shout Out! To Freedom…
(Warp Records)
Reviewed by Sam Smith.
After a three year gap, legendary British electronic producer George Evelyn AKA Nightmares On Wax has returned with what might just be his best album in years.
Titled Shout Out! To Freedom…, Evelyn’s latest is an eclectic affair that encompasses a range of different genres, of which Evelyn magically pulls together with his production nouse to create a chilled-out album perfect for lazy lockdown days.
Soul, dub, jazz, RnB, downtempo and reggae all make an appearance across the fifteen tracks, with Evelyn drawing on the vocal talents of his star guests to bring his production chops to life.
‘3D Warrior’ is a doom jazz affair featuring the likes of Shabaka Hutchings and, as a song, really sets the album alight early on in the piece. Then there is ‘Breathe In’, where vocalist/rapper OSHUN puts in an electric dance hall-esque performance that is as good as any guest performance in 2021.
‘Wonder’ is a gorgeous downtempo affair that would not have sounded out of place on one of those early 21st-century Lazy Sunday compilations, while on ‘Own Me’, Evelyn brings out the 70s funk with a helping hand from Haile Supreme.
The album then winds down with three fantastic tracks in a row. The soulful ‘Isolated’ featuring the vocal talents of Pip Millett and Sabrina Mahfouz, ‘Trillion,’ which features Aotearoa’s very own Mara TK in what is an Electric Wire Hustle-esque sounding song, and, finally, the Smokey Robinson-like ‘Up To Us’.
As Nightmares On Wax projects go, this is as diverse and eclectic as they come. Evelyn has put a lot of work in here to ensure the finished product had plenty of depth and breadth to it and, in doing so, made sure to pick the right vocalists for the right songs.
It worked, and the result is a great sounding album and a return to form, if you will, from a producer who, despite his legacy, is often overlooked in favour of more contemporary big-name producers.
Shout Out! To Freedom… is Nightmares On Wax’s best album since 2006’s In a Space Outta Sound and Evelyn’s message to us all through it is don’t forget about me just yet as I still have plenty more up my sleeve.
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