11 Apr 2009 // A review by lukefitzmaurice
There is something irresistibly funky about this album, and it hits you within seconds of pressing play. The opening track, The Ace of Space, has a kind of Ocean’s Eleven quality to it, and as I listened to the rest of the album I never really shook the feeling of being engrossed within a Las Vegas casino heist. Later in the piece I felt a little less Danny Ocean and a little more James Bond with tracks like All You Need and the aptly named Bond Is Back, and later still I felt as though I was in a South American jazz club sipping on cocktails as I listened to Del Ray. Needless to say, Get It Together is a very cool album, in every possible sense of the word.

However, whilst I found myself getting easily carried away with movie analogies, I must be quick to point out that this album has value well beyond simple soundtrack status. What truly sets Sola Rosa’s latest offering apart is the immense diversity it contains, and the way Andrew Spraggon manages to transition seamlessly between tracks influenced by jazz, funk, soul, hip hop, dub, and countless other genres. This may give the impression that the album lacks any flow and continuity, but somehow this is far from the case. Personally, I was not a big fan of the more hip-hop based tracks such as Love Alone and I’ve Tried Ways, but despite my hesitations I never really felt as though these tracks detracted from the album as whole.

For me, the crowning achievement of the album was the way strings and brass sections were dominant in so many tracks, a factor which probably contributed greatly to the James Bond feel to the album that I mentioned earlier. The soulful contributions by Iva Lamkum and Bajka were also highlights. To be honest my biggest disappointment was that this album wasn’t released in time for summer, as it would have made great listening on a sunny January afternoon. Its now mid-April, and for the most part the sun has disappeared, but the summery sound of Get It Together seems to be making a valiant attempt at bringing it back. One thing is for certain, Andrew Spraggon will never fail for lack of effort.

Since 1999 Sola Rosa’s Andrew Spraggon has been tantalising listeners with otherworldly aural experiences, honing his craft and taking Sola Rosa from a self-released one man project to fully-fledged live powerhouse along the way. He’s kept good company on the road and in the studio, Sola Rosa counting members of Dimmer, Goldenhorse, Pluto and Sommerset amongst the ranks over the years, not to mention pilfering the best members of Che Fu, King Kapisi and Anika Moa’s bands and tapping the talents of internationally renowned artists like Nathan Haines and Spikey Tee. Add to the mix a succession of highly regarded releases the world over on stunning labels that include household names Ministry of Sound, Guidance, Different Drummer, Stereo Deluxe, and Satellite K, and you’ll see why so many eager ears and heavy-lidded eyes are always fixed to fasten on what Sola Rosa does next.

First coming to local music-lovers’ attention as guitarist and vocalist for angular rock band Cicada in the 90s, over the course of the last 9 years Spraggon has been on the receiving end of a Tui (2001’s 'Solarized'), b-net awards (for 2000’s 'Entrance To Skyway' and 2003’s 'Haunted Out-takes'), and a bevy of other accolades and nominations as Sola Rosa, but there’s little doubt when pressing play on 2009's 'Get It Together' that it is his finest accomplishment to date. Taking in a wide swathe of genres, and walking an ever-erratic line between organic and electronic elements, Sola Rosa’s songs continue to pull off Spraggon’s patented trick of electrifying your ears while ensuring that your feet don’t get confused along the way. Three years in the making, 'Get It Together' is best differentiated from its predecessors by a more beat-driven, direct, dance-demanding sound.

Picking up where the performance-based 'Moves On' album left off in 2005, there’s a sweating, smoking live band at the heart of the new record, made up of long-term members of the Rosa roster - Will Scott (drums), Matt Short (bass), and Ben White (guitar). Spraggon studio sorcery has then come into play, tooling up 'Get It Together' for maximum dancefloor impact, and bolstering the album with a roll-call of vocalists, musicians, and compositional contributors running headlong into Sola Rosa’s sonic stirrings at full force – with vocal cuts from Spikey Tee (best known for his work with Jah Wobble, Bomb The Bass, Mark Rae and on some of Sola Rosa’s finest moments); German globetrotter, poet, and singer Bajka; UK MC Serocee; and emerging Wellingtonian songstress Iva Lamkum. Underpinning these outstanding lyrical performances and further illuminating the album’s instrumentals you’ll find an eclectic batch of collaborators that includes the likes of Victoria Kelly, Julien Dyne, Juse, Scratch 22, Hadyn Godfrey, John Highsted, James Duncan, and Miguel Fuentes (who’s played with Isaac Hayes, George Benson, Grover Washington, Patti La Bell and other luminaries).

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