I've written a few times about ace new vocal group du jour, Jukeboxx, most notably when they've whipped out a camera and recorded themselves singing luscious versions of modern day pop hits (Black Heart, Living For The Weekend, etc). They make sounding so good seem so effortless - and (not that they were just playing around before) they now get serious with a sample from their upcoming mixtape, The Drive, called Stay...
What I have always loved about the Jukeboxx boys is their ability to sound like one of those classic 60s motown male vocal groups yet being completely contemporary at the same time. It's a musical alchemy that they work like wizards and this is the main thrust of their first product from the studio, Stay. Based on, rather than a direct cover, of the Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs classic (made famous by Dirty Dancing - nobody puts baby in the corner, i carried a watermelon, etc), they transform it into a modern day hip-pop anthem whilst retaining the melodic charm of the original. The track launches with a soundbite from the 60s (very Hairspray), keeping the handclap beat but adding a vibrant percussive shuffle brings the song bang up to date. There's a gorgeous tenor vocal leading the song with convivial chants of "shout" as backing ad-libs which give the track a real good time vibe. A muted horn section also adds a lovely layered vibe. The chorus vocal is taken by Cartier Fraser, who gives a gorgeous delivery backed by deliriously good harmonies from the boys (in fact, the boys are always good but the 20 seconds from one minute onwards may be the most blissful pop moment of the summer so far)...
... then comes the rap. To make a rap work in a well known song, there has to be an element of continuity about the music and fortunately it's been very cleverly done here. Remember that vibrant percussive shuffle I mentioned, along with those convivial chants? Well they keep the essence of the "singing" part of the song flowing while the energetic rap is lyrically true to the original message of the song - so all in all it ends up as a nifty mid-song treat before gliding with ease back into that oh so charming chorus. The more I hear from Jukeboxx, the more convinced I am that these boys are the real deal and here to *ahem* stay. Stunning.
(Tweet to unlock and download the song for free. ACES)
UPDATE: Drunk Next To You (Emili Sandi/Ed Sheeran Cover)
As you will have read above (or "Previously, on myfizzypop...") the Jukeboxx boys can do no wrong in my world, and their flawless vocals set them aside in a crowded boyband market. Earlier this week, they popped a cover version of Emeli Sandi's Next To You and Ed Sheeran's Drunk on youtube. Recorded in their garden (or a garden, but thank heavens they mowed the lawn first) and looking criminally good just lazing around, they make their intricate harmonies seem so easy - indeed, as they sing "you will find, you will find it next to me" at the 1m mark, there are no need for instruments as their vocals convey all the emotion, hope and optimism the lyrics require. And the blend of the two songs is so seamless that it seems like one tune, telling two different sides of a story. Once again, it's a joy to listen to their voices, their interpretation of a well known song and quite frankly, I'm running out of intelligent sounding words to compliment them with. Snap them up quickly record labels, because these boys need to be huge. Yesterday.
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