Just in time for the dark season, Mamas Gun return to provide us with much needed musical balm for the soul. The first single “Party For One” stands in the velvety soul tradition of artists like Isaac Hayes and Marvin Gaye and has the potential to become a classic in the band’s repertoire. Driven by a low-slung bass line the track melds dreamy vocals, lush orchestration and psychedelic effects to deliver a healing balm to modern hardships.
Lead singer Andy Platts comments: “Lyrically ‘Party For One’ comes from me being a bit of a loner – I like my own company and space to create, think and reflect. I was in my ideal world during the early stages of the pandemic, on my own and with no one around, but I was mourning the company of strangers. There is something in anonymous togetherness that is the stuff of life.”
Written the day Bill Withers passed away, “Looking For Moses” pays righteous homage to the great soul man with Andy Platts’ honeyed vocals bringing apposite warmth to a joyously groovy and beautifully crafted slice of soul.
Platts says “Looking For Moses” was the track that kicked off the writing for the album: “Everything was panic stations at the time, it was my daughter that inspired the first set up with the lyrics ‘her mama says she can’t go out, baby girl maybe one day you’ll understand, when all of this is in the past.’ I wanted to imbue it with a bit of hope too. It’s about leaning on your beliefs but more so it’s about standing united and staying the course, and the reality of simply getting by and getting through life.”
Building on the 2018 album “Golden Days” and the band’s status as a world-renowned live act, the 11-track album “Cure The Jones” represents a consistent evolution and refinement of the Mamas Gun sound – a joyous and sophisticated exposition of song-craft, that explores themes of love, loss, life through the most pressing social and political issues of the day.
Written and produced during the pandemic by Mamas Gun front man Andy Platts with additional intricate soundscaping from drummer Chris Boot, “Cure The Jones” was recorded direct to tape with an array of analogue gear at Platts’ home studio in just three days, focussing the soulful energy of the band into a coherent gospel-tinged whole.
Photo: Lee Heathfield
