1. Give It feat Kurt Wagner
2. Witchi Tai To feat Tim De Laughter
3. Enjoy The Ride feat Kissing The Pink
4. Fellow Cutie
5. Don't Make Me Wait feat Bernard Fowler
6. Kill 100 feat Rob Harvey
7. 17 feat Anthony Roman
8. Light My Soul feat Kissing The Pink
9. Answer feat Kissing The Pink
10. Last Man feat Kissing The Pink
Rocky, Diesel and Ashley
Beedle are veterans in giving people their own
makeshift feelgood, either as DJs or producers, so it
comes as no surprise to report they've done the
business again here.In doing so they've added a few
extra dimensions to the X-Press 2 make-up, enlisting a
new set of guest vocalists to help them.
They've come an awful long way since the
underground tracks of the mid 1990s. Muzikizum, the
trio's debut, brought these together and showed an
aptitude for instrumental club cuts such as the mighty
title track. At the same time it served notice of a
new talent for songwriting, the obvious example being
the David Byrne collaboration Lazy.
Their second album finds them pushing the
songwriting much further, no doubt buoyed by the
confidence given by Lazy's success. This does mean the
sharp edges previously found in the club tracks have
blunted a little, but it also brings a greater sense
of coherence to their form.
And as far as feel good goes, the Kurt
Wagner-assisted Give It is up there with the best
of them, working well in its album format as it builds
to a euphoric chorus. Not many fusions of gospel and
house music have proved this effective. The heady air
continues with Tim DeLaughter, guest in a
slightly bizarre version of Witchi Tai To, pulled off
by the skin of its teeth.
It's good to see the band isn't just about scaling
the highs, as their dark side has always appealed.
Here it's best glimpsed in Kill 100, the cold,
slightly sinister house production fronted by an
almost emotionless Rob Harvey. Flipside, the
electro-fuelled Don't Make Me Wait finds Bernard
Fowler going for the big-room vocal and nearly
succeeding.
Almost half the tracks on the album collaborate
with ravesters Kissing The Pink, and feature a
healthy nod to the early 90s. Enjoy The Ride, with its
squiggly synths, is superceded by the po-faced Light
My Soul, a deadpan vocal and slower beat working
well.
Only one track comes close to routine, the empty
bluster of Fellow Cutie. But this record largely
succeeds in elevating X-Press 2 to a higher level,
fusing their songwriting and club sensibilities rather
impressively.