Routes

• Artist: Smoke
• Rating:
• Release Date: March 03, 2009
• Total Time: 0:00
• Type: Lyrics are included with the album
• Genre: Reggae

Review

Smoke have reggae music down to a science and their formula has enough soul to transcend its ingredients. What more can you ask for? Very little, actually. Routes is as no-nonsense reggae as it gets. At a time when every reggae act is either following a trend or trying to make a new trend catch on, these Italian (!) guys are teaching everyone a lesson: back to the basics! Routes, their second opus, has everything it takes to satisfy the reggae fan and even, maybe, make a little foray on the mainstream charts. And what's that "everything"? Rhythm, melodies, soulful voices, and a social conscience. No digital trickery, no hip-hop crossover, no guest producer roll call. Fronted by singer Séan Daniel Martin, whose voice recalls the young Horace Andy in its inflections, Smoke have the potential general appeal of the great Bob Marley. The simple yet well-exploited production values of Routes are in part responsible for that, but much must also be credited to the band's effective songwriting. The songs about relationships and harmony tend to be too light ("Don't Leave Me Today," "Wasn't It You") -- and it that sense, the album could have been trimmed down in size -- but the social issue songs hit the awareness nerve straight on, from Mao-era China ("Iron Man Wang") to children's rights ("Save All the Kids") and the resource plundering of Africa ("Ken Saro Wiwa"). Of course, nothing on Routes is particularly groundbreaking or original (except for the fact that it comes out of Italy), but that will start to bother you only after a few listens and, by then, bits like the call line to "Let There Be Light" and the addictive chorus of "Iron Man Wang" will have made deep-seated nests inside your pleasure centers. Reggae rarely got this universal. ~ François Couture, Rovi

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