An Ordinary Day In An Unusual Place

Cool and groovy, jazzy, funky... You remember it. Geoff Wilkinson is the man behind the Us3 phenomenon. He was the one with the Blue Note back catalogue and the sampladelic wherewithall to put classic tracks like ‘Cantaloupe (Flip Fantasia)’ and ‘Lazy Day’ together. However, it is not so much Wilkinson’s work that hits you when you listen to Us3, but the sound of whatever vocalist he has employed at that time.

For all his technical wizardry, Wilkinson’s music is, for the most part, only as good as the singer he gets to perform over his meaty backbeats. Luckily then, the two vocalists on Ordinary Day are straight out of the top drawer.

Alison Crockett has all the drama of a classic soul diva in the mould of Aretha or Margo Thunders, especially on material as good as the toe-tappingly addictive ‘Get Out’ or the brilliant ‘Why?’. Meanwhile, Michelob’s streetwise rapping is a balancing act between social commentary (the edgy ‘Dead End Street’ and the chilling ‘World No More’) and wide boy romeo from the hood (‘India’).

Of course, Wilkinson provides the perfect platform for both singers to truly shine. The jazzy chorus of ‘You Can’t Bring Me Down’ is as good as anything he has done to date, allowing Michelob’s hip-hop sensibilities enough room to strut, while ‘Let My Dreams Come True’ retains a welcome edge that would perhaps have been easier to lose, as Alison gives her vocal chords a thorough workout.

With both vocalists laying the socio-political commentary on thick, all the right-on-ness gets a little wearing by the final third. While there’s no denying the power of songs like ‘Pay Attention’, ‘Shady People’ should have been dismissed as a good idea that didn’t work out and it’s a decidedly sour note on which to end what is, for the most part, an impressive piece of work.