Karma Calling

Relish want to be a Big Band. There’s no mistaking that. Karma Calling, their second L.P. was not written for toilet gigs. There are too many ringing solos (‘Honey (one million miles)’), lighter-waving acoustic interludes (‘Father, Brother, Lover & Son), and demands for world peace (‘Friend’) for that. This is a record with its eyes fixed firmly on the back wall of the Odyssey.

The problem is, becoming a B.B these days just isn’t as easy as it used to be. Where once a mullet, a pair of jodhpurs and the odd kung-fu kick was enough to wow Wembley, now, to charm the Trans-Atlantic masses, it takes an appreciation of Aphex Twin, an Oscar-winning girlfriend, and a capacity to write ballads that go off in people’s hearts like cluster bombs.

On that basis, Karma Calling falls short. Monumentally short. Relish are, in truth, not very good at being Big Band.

They could, however, become an outstanding small band. Ken Papenfus is blessed with a voice like a benefactor in a Victorian novel – compassionate, resonating, utterly welcome - and hiding in the hulking shells of a few of these tracks (‘Don’t Let Go’, ‘Get Down, Move On’, ‘Hope’), are the germs of some outstanding, warm-hearted, life-affirming songs. Throw in an evident love for the divine music made by Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Sly Stone and Bill Withers in the early 70s, and there’s still a chance for the boys to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But they’re going to have to establish eye contact with those in the front row.