It's official: The Brand New Heavies -- the real Brand New Heavies -- are back. Get Used To It marks the return of singer N'Dea Davenport, who left the band to pursue a solo career following the group's 1994 release, Brother Sister. But despite not having recorded a full album together in over a decade, Davenport and the other band members -- guitarist Simon Bartholomew, drummer/keyboardist Jan Kinkaid, and bassist Andrew Love Levy -- still have a amazing musical chemistry together.
A Fun, Confident Tone
If you're a music fan who's been around awhile, listening to The Brand New Heavies latest release is like getting together for coffee with a friend whom you haven't seen in years.
Since the time she left the group, fans had been clamoring for vocalist N'Dea Davenport to return to the Heavies. After N'Dea's departure, vocalist Siedah Garrett stepped in and sang lead on the group's 1997 studio album, Shelter.Then the Heavies released a number of singles featuring singer Carleen Anderson, followed by the 2004 album Allaboutthefunk featuring Nicole Russo on vocals.
But Davenport was the singer when the band had it's biggest success, in the early 1990s, and none of her replacements had come close to matching her talent.
Now it appears that she could be back with the band for good, and if the songs on this album are any indication, her permanent return would be a very welcome one for fans of Funk and Soul music.
Alright, getting to the album: From the opening track, "We've Got," a fun, confident tone is set. The song, a funky, funky re-introduction to the band, establishes that they're back:
"Hope you're ready, here we come," N'Dea boasts on the song, "We got what you want, we got what you need."
Since the time she left the group, fans had been clamoring for vocalist N'Dea Davenport to return to the Heavies. After N'Dea's departure, vocalist Siedah Garrett stepped in and sang lead on the group's 1997 studio album, Shelter.Then the Heavies released a number of singles featuring singer Carleen Anderson, followed by the 2004 album Allaboutthefunk featuring Nicole Russo on vocals.
But Davenport was the singer when the band had it's biggest success, in the early 1990s, and none of her replacements had come close to matching her talent.
Now it appears that she could be back with the band for good, and if the songs on this album are any indication, her permanent return would be a very welcome one for fans of Funk and Soul music.
Alright, getting to the album: From the opening track, "We've Got," a fun, confident tone is set. The song, a funky, funky re-introduction to the band, establishes that they're back:
"Hope you're ready, here we come," N'Dea boasts on the song, "We got what you want, we got what you need."
Old School Funk and Soul
© Delicious Vinyl
Following the strong opener is another standout track, the band's joyous cover of Stevie Wonder's "I Don't Know Why (I Love You)." Yours truly has written enough about the song elsewhere, but I'll just add that it's this song that exemplifies why N'Dea is so important to the group.
Another standout is the funky, midtempo song "Music," which laments R&B's current trend of being all about flashy videos, and having style but little substance:
"It's not about the money, it's all about the music. It's all about what skills you bring to the party, oh yeah. It's not about your dance routine."
One of the beautiful things about Get Used to It is how organic it is; there's no heavy-handed, big-name 'super-producers' controlling everything here. Just old-school, genuine instrumentation and powerful vocals that sound perfectly natural, and not like they were overly-manipulated via studio wizardry.
And much has been made about the vocal prowess of N'Dea Davenport in this review, but her three bandmates can't be overlooked. After performing together for more than 20 years, they practically have music down to a science. Their instrumentation on many tracks, specifically the loose, funky songs "All Fired Up" and "Right On" is right on point.
Another standout is the funky, midtempo song "Music," which laments R&B's current trend of being all about flashy videos, and having style but little substance:
"It's not about the money, it's all about the music. It's all about what skills you bring to the party, oh yeah. It's not about your dance routine."
One of the beautiful things about Get Used to It is how organic it is; there's no heavy-handed, big-name 'super-producers' controlling everything here. Just old-school, genuine instrumentation and powerful vocals that sound perfectly natural, and not like they were overly-manipulated via studio wizardry.
And much has been made about the vocal prowess of N'Dea Davenport in this review, but her three bandmates can't be overlooked. After performing together for more than 20 years, they practically have music down to a science. Their instrumentation on many tracks, specifically the loose, funky songs "All Fired Up" and "Right On" is right on point.
