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Mozez - So Still (apace)
' Feel free' has always captured me since i first heard it. Former zero 7 singer Mozez dazzles the crowd with his gospel voice, with a great attitude and fantastic music to accompany. This set was as amazing as i had hoped. His songs show variety and beauty in a way that captivates you with pleasing ease. He plays one zero 7 song, which just continues to display his abilities. Soulful with chilled beats. Sunny afternoon music.Clare Rixon on Mozez at The Big Chill 2006
Interview with Mozez
Where are you from?
Jamaica
Are you camping?
Yes I am, actually.
Whats your tent like then?
Well it hasn't actually been put up yet so we shall see.
Which acts are you looking forward to?
The Beauty Room, Nightmares on Wax, everything really.
What is The Big Chill?
Fantastic!
So where next for you?
Hackney! just a few gigs around the country, no tour planned yet.
Review of So Still
Familiar with Mozez? You may have seen him perform solo at The Big Chill in 2004, and you've almost certainly heard his work with Zero 7, where he split front-person duties with Sia and Sophie Barker.
If you know Zero 7's contemporary/retro, soul influenced down-tempo sound (and let's face it, who doesn't?), you'll hear echoes of it on "So Still". In fact, most of the soaring strings, phased Rhodes piano, acoustic guitar licks and layered vocals on the album wouldn't sound out of place on one of their albums. Henry Binns from Zero 7 has given a hand production and mixing "Beautiful Day" - and the song really, really sounds like a Zero 7 album track!
The standout song on the album -"Fuzz" - also features a guest. E.A.S.E. from Nightmares on Wax who "produced, mixed and spiritualized" the track. Non-specific spiritual contributions notwithstanding, the result is a master class in minimal, soulful production - eschewing drums which let the haunting main and backing vocals soar over lighter-than-air bluesy guitar/Rhodes hooks. While the lyrics remind us of the truism "everybody really needs somebody'. Drums appear ten seconds from the end, (giving the listener a taste of how the track might have been with a less adventurous producer).
Having Zero 7 and Nightmares on Wax on the same song is possibly the platonic ideal of a 'chill out song' - as defined by the marketing men who engineered the early 90s market saturation of 'chill out' music. If Mozez had called the song 'I Love Relaxing in Ibiza' put a picture of a sunset on the cover and released it five years ago, he could probably have retired. As it stands, Mozez sounds like nothing less than a latter day Al Green on "Fuzz" - a beautiful, timeless song that showcases undeniable vocal skills.
"Venus Rise" also deserves a shout. Mozez's vocal gently whispers itself around a beautiful, breathy trumpet line, while lush strings swell in and out of the almost ambient, electro-acoustic backing track. Darker than the rest of the album and all the better for it.
As a body of work, there's no doubting that "So Still" plays it safe. The production is polished to the very edge of bland, the lyrical content won't challenge anyone and the songs are peppered with uplifting choruses and catchy hooks. What helps it stand apart from other albums is Mozez's presence and voice.
Silky smooth with more soul than most - reminiscent of Al Green, Marvin Gaye or a post-op Sade - Mozez has created an album which is perfectly pitched at the "People who bought this also bought..." reference on the Zero 7 page on, say, Amazon.
And that's no bad thing.
"So Still" by Mozez is out now on Apace.
www.mozez.co.uk
rx
Written: 11th Jan, 06
Read: 4519 times
