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Laid back soul sounds as the inimitable Andrew Ashong joins forces with Albert's Favourites label founder Jonny Drop. 

Sultry vocals compliment the yearning sound of horns (courtesy of former Funk Lovin' Criminal, Brian "Fast" Leiser) and mellow, warm bass movement. A magical combination dropping hints of what's to come on the full length LP in April.

The Puzzle Dust MP3s

The Puzzle Dust

Jonny Drop • Andrew Ashong - The Puzzle Dust

‘Entre Chien et Loup’ is the third single and final taster of Project Gemini’s much anticipated, forthcoming second album Colours & Light. A Francophile-flavoured waltz through the depths of emotion, anguish and escape, served up through the lens of Project Gemini’s cinematic style. Featuring the vocal elegance of Gloria’s Wendy Martinez and guitar solo grit of Wolf People/Large Plants’ Jack Sharp, the beauty of the music is also wrapped up in the pain of its context. Shades of darkness, studded with pockets of light.

Having gained a great 6 Music reception with the title track and second single, Colours & Light, Project Gemini aka Paul Osborne presents one of two album cuts that Lyon-based Wendy Martinez features on. Having sent through the instrumental of ‘Entre Chien et Loup’, Paul mentions: “When Wendy sent me back the beautiful vocal parts she’d written, I was completely blown away. She’d totally elevated the track to another level. Lyrically, it documents an individual escaping a destructive relationship, and the song title (‘between dog and wolf’ a well-known French phrase used to describe dusk/twilight) was absolutely perfect. Jack Sharp added the finishing touches with his mesmerising guitar solo.”

Sweeping and celestial, the Francophile touch is heightened by Paul’s analogue saturated, Mellotron playing and the percussive tactility of Eleven 76/Call Sender’s Paul Elliott. A wandering bassline and the expert drumming of Sababa 5’s Raz Man, anchor the track further to its earthly nature.

Project Gemini - Entre Chien Et Loup

SOYUZ (СОЮЗ) stole our hearts back in 2022 when we released their album Force Of The Wind to critical acclaim. Here we proudly present the predecessor to that LP, the band’s sophomore long player from 2019 that was previously only available digitally. It captures a pivotal evolving period in the band's career, the recordings giving a snapshot of what would become their sound on Force Of The Wind, yet with echoes of avant-psychedelic-pop footprints from yester years.

Produced at a time when band leader Alex Chumak had moved from Minsk to Kyiv, torn between the need to try something new and the homesickness it brought about. Travelling back to Minsk almost weekly, Alex joined fellow band members Mikita Arlou and Stanislav Murashko to lay down II at Studio 42. The album captures these transient feelings, contextualised through the broad scope of influences the band were nourished by. From MPB to Ethio-Jazz and the Italian library soundtracks of Piero Piccioni and Piero Umiliani, the album shines with touches of joy from across the globe.

The opening track 'Verocai' is a tribute to the Brazilian maestro and 'Mirouze', whilst being named after a French favourite of the band, Jean-Pierre Mirouze, pays clear homage to Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges. A ghostly sample and invisible connection to music made miles away in a different era that has influenced and become part of the band’s lives. This is further reinforced in the album's enchanting closer, the aptly titled 'Nascimento', another nod to the great Brazilian musician and singer.

The beginnings of the cinematic, soul-laden jazz SOYUZ are now known for, are on display across the likes of ‘Lyric’ and 'Motive I'. The latter an orchestrated jazz instrumental with sensuous string sections, all of which were recorded on the warmth of a Studer reel-to-reel and waltzing Rhodes keys.

SOYUZ’s wide-ranging palate is further demonstrated in tracks like ‘Business Partners’ with its Krauty, kosmische, new wave production featuring Inturist, and the oh-too-short Anatolian-influenced interlude 'Corrida'. Elsewhere, 'Tezeta' and ‘ES-2 Jazz’ hint at the psychedelic haze of soul-funk, with the former featuring verses from Serbian rapper Petar Martic.

For this new physical and digital release, the whole album was mixed from scratch by Ryan Power before Joker worked his magic on the remaster. More excellence is to come from SOYUZ, but in the meantime, we are thrilled to present this essential recording from the band’s foundational years, mixed to a level that does it the justice it deserves.

SOYUZ - Motive II (Remastered)

SOYUZ - Lyric (Remastered)

SOYUZ - Mirouze (Remastered)

SOYUZ - Motive I (Remastered)

SOYUZ - Tezeta (feat. Petar Martic) (Remastered)

If 2022’s The Children Of Scorpio was the debut album that turned people onto the world of Project Gemini aka Paul Osborne, Colours & Light is the body of work that will be buried deep into their hearts. It is a majestic album, bringing together the worlds of folk rock, psych soundtracks and hazy cinematic funk.
 
A growing confidence and ease emanate from the writing and production of this sophomore LP, bolstered by the reception to his standout debut. “It’s a more layered and diverse record” Paul mentions, “with a more outward-looking, global sound, born out of the records I was listening to and the musicians I was lucky enough to collaborate with”. It feels relaxed yet self-assured, with a kaleidoscope of sounds that twist together in a mesmerising fashion.
 
The theme of the album developed naturally through the lyrics Paul began writing. A creative process both plagued and fed by insomnia, nourished by relationships, entwined in emotions, nights out, nights in and the after-effects on the human condition. Relatable themes yet seen through the prism of a soundscape that takes in many a different culture and scene. From acid folk to psych-funk, Francophile elements to Anatolian and Eastern inspirations, all interlocking and rotating as one.
 
Drawing inspiration from those he admires, Colours & Light radiates with collaborations. The title track, which tips its hat to a live 1973 TV version of Pentangle’s ‘Wedding Dress’, features the folk rock, guitar brilliance of Jack Sharp from Wolf People/Large Plants.
 
Elsewhere, two tracks are blessed by the sultry, smokey French vocals of Gloria’s Wendy Martinez, ‘Extra Nuit’ and ‘Entre chien et loup’. The former echoes Paul's love of classic French psych-pop from the late ’60s and early ’70s and artists such as Laurance Vanay, Calcium, Leonie, and Serge Gainsbourg. Martinez's sublime vocal work nestles perfectly within Paul's psych-folk-funk productions, as her Gloria partner, Alexis Morel (aka Kid Victrola) sprinkles a dose of entrancing guitar line magic on proceedings.
 
The list of collaborations extends further with Raz and Markey Funk, drummer Tony Coote and percussionist Paul Elliott all featuring. Regular collaborator and underground icon Barrie Cadogan (Little Barrie) returns along with Bert Page from The Cromagnon Band, who between them provide a hit of whacked-out, fuzzed-up country guitar and Moog madness respectively on ‘Lost In The Woods (Bacchanal)’.
 
Rounding off the record Paul’s daughter, Olivia Osborne, supplies the keyboard intro on the penultimate track ‘Twilight’. Dorian Conway from The Soundcarriers (whose bandmate Paul Isherwood returns on mixing duties) then layers echoing heavy flute parts to magically capture the psychedelic sunrise images brought to mind. 
 
Balancing light and shade on this record, there is beauty and tension all wrapped up in Paul’s vivid and visceral, storytelling gift.

Project Gemini - Extra Nuit

One of the most electrifying acts to have emerged in recent years, New Regency Orchestra announce their highly anticipated debut album on Mr Bongo with their first single, ‘Labasta Llego’. A reimagining of Rafael Labasta’s 1972 original, the group have delivered a contemporary take on this sublime serving of Afro-Cuban jazz energy.

Harnessing the fusion of ideas that exploded out of New York’s melding of jazz and Latin during the ‘50s to the ‘70s, New Regency Orchestra are an 18-piece big band that has been setting the scene alight on stage. Led by artistic director Lex Blondin, the group are a hand-picked line-up of some of London’s finest Latin and jazz musicians. Providing a fresh spin on a selection of the seminal songs that emanated out of that golden era, they bring a contemporary radiance to their recordings.

Originally written in 1972 by Dominican trumpeter and orchestra leader Rafael Labasta, who played with greats such as Kako, Cortijo y Su Combo and even The Big 3: Machito, Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente, ‘Labasta Llego’ is a salsa-infused track bursting with colour and creativity.  Congas, cowbells and timbales dance around bandleader Eliane Correa’s joyous keys providing an infectious rhythm on New Regency Orchestra’s version. With the rhythm locked, a wall of horns blasts you straight to the shores of the Dominican Republic. One of two vocal tracks from the album, Jose Cesar’s expressive vocal tones, backed by Flavio Correa add to the Latin spice, as Nick Walters steps forward for a spirited and spellbinding trumpet solo.

Lex sums up the single perfectly, “It’s one of our live anthems and it always goes down a storm. The music speaks for itself. It’s impossible to keep your hips still with this one!”

New Regency Orchestra - Labasta Llego

Record label. Record shop. Film label. Since 1989.

SOYUZ - Tezeta (feat. Petar Martic) (Remastered)

Mr Bongo

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