With four singers and as many horn players, in addition to a powerful engine room of bass, drums and keyboards, the Katoomba-bred Melbourne-based collective boasts deadly vocal and brass sections. Kooyeh’s music is taut, tight and terrific, indicative of an outfit that lives, works and plays together.
The brass arrangements are consummate. Adroit use of trombones adds underpinning bass-led oomph to Judgement Day and Mountain Top. Muted trumpet and saxophone stabs lead to a well-constructed jazz outro in the equally outstanding Waves.
Changes in tempo and rhythm lend Keep on Waiting and Only One quirky feels, the latter coming within cooee of Cat Empire territory. Reverbed horns and deep bass dubify No Love and Woke Up in Babylon. Oc- casional bursts of rock guitar penetrate the brass. A rap distinguishes Crime, along with a serious theme. Other songs cover reggae subject staples, with inevitable nods to Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff. If Kooyeh ever gets to record at Tuff Gong or any of the renowned Jamaican studios, it’ll be the toast of the reggae world at large.
We hope you can enjoy and support our music and we hope to visit soon! Bless up
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