Baltimore’s Fertile Ground are back with Seasons Change, and just like last
year’s Perception long player this is a breathtaking cocktail of funk, soul,
jazz and even hip-hop, with Navasha Daya’s intoxicating vocals throughout.
Fertile Ground’s genuine warmth and ability to uplift like few others makes
Seasons Change one of the albums of 2002. You will find yourself saying
‘they don’t make them like this any more’ (although Fertile Ground can and
do) due to the classic soul feel of a bygone age which they are able to
recapture.
One Mo Gin is a rowdy brass funk classic on which Daya really lets her hair
down, and gives her listeners a peek behind her usual ultra-cool style.
Without wishing to sound pretentious, there is definitely something
spiritual about Fertile Ground’s music. The quite stunningly beautiful More
2 Life is just one example of this, as is the sultry and peerlessly soulful
single Take Me Higher.
Star People is the perfect end to the album, with just a piano accompanying
Daya, who by this point has you totally mesmerised by the warmth and depth
of her vocals.
It is quite simple really. If you appreciate soulful music and don’t already
own Season’s Change then you owe it to yourself to rectify that situation.
www.counterpointrecords.co.uk
Reviewed
by Fraser Syme
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