THE DYNAMICS - Drag'n'Fly - Black vinyl edition

THE DYNAMICS - DRAG'N'FLY

Album  + downoad voucher available on black or green vinyl limited edition

PREORDER NOW DELIVERIES FROM 25 OCTOBRE 2024

https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/artist/1mYvu9huHeR7ho3iGAgCsn?si=6f695y4CSCKlBos6yx8vkA

TRACKLISTING 

A1 DRAGONFLY (01:09) 

A2 Low rider (04:12) 

A3 The Joker (04:29)

A4 It's a Man's Man's Man's World (03:37)

A5 You’ve Got to Have Freedom (04:28)

B1 Dance (04:01)

B2 Sledgehammer (04:28)

B3 After laughter comes tears (03:57)

B4 Cocaine (03:39) 

B5 Rub a Sub (03:28) 

THE DYNAMICS • DRAG’N’FLY

by VINCENT BONJOUR

Jamaica, 1960s. Ska, rock steady and reggae artists covered soul songs from the United States, creating their own versions that would in turn become future classics. The hits of the moment were also seasoned with Jamaican sauce, no matter where they came from - pop, country, jazz... The island’s rhythms transformed the original tracks once and for all.  

In 2024, with their third album, Dragn’fly, adorned with a magnificent dragonfly (in King Tubby’s language), the Dynamics honoured Jamaican tradition, blasting out 10 versions of hits from yesterday and today. The Dragonfly spreads its reggae, soul and funk wings to land in every headphone, in the heart of good stereos and on spicy dancefloors. Because this Dragonfly is a real superfly that speaks to the heart... and to the legs. 

After two successful albums that took them all over the world from Glastonbury to Tokyo, the Dynamics have been endorsed by the greats (opening for Lee Perry here, regular DJ support for Don Letts there), and are reviving their tried-and-tested soul reggae vocal sound system for audiences specialising in Jamaican sounds, or for those lucky enough to bump into them by chance in the company of the Chemical Brothers... or Lady Gaga. 

The Dynamics have put aside the weight of their ancestors to make their own recipe. They proclaim it, they are Sound System! The voices of Mounam, Steve Levi and Mr Day take centre stage, taking turns as lovers, preachers, crooners and crooners, while Fab Master Flab wraps it all up in rootsy, futuristic echoes. But while the spirit is ‘sound system’, the Dynamics also sound like a band, thanks to the instruments played live that immerse the tracks in a unique fervour. 

And then there are the hits, of all eras and styles. The Low Rider becomes a toaster and leaves the American roads carried by these celestial vocal harmonies to take the Kingston exit. On the side of the road, the oker delivers its sweet lovers rock after a short diversions to Muscle Shoal, just long enough to borrow a guitar from Duane Allman.

In the south again, Mounam ‘Mrs Dynamics’ meets the spirit of ‘Mr Dynamite’ and tells him his radical, soulful version. ‘It’s a man man’s world...’ inna digital style!  The spiritual anthem ‘you got to have freedom’ by the master Pharoah Sanders becomes a universal skank, pop and dub that sends its universal message resonating high. Dance! The dynamics transform ESG’s classic into a minimal pop bomb reminiscent of Mr Pharell Williams’ Neptunes. . On the edge of the track, Peter Gabriel sees his ‘Sledgehammer’ groove like he could never have imagined, dissolving into sublime soul swirls. A little further on, ‘After laughter...’, a soul classic celebrated and sampled a thousand times over, is reborn as an airy rock steady also destined for eternity. ‘JJ Cale’s ‘Cocaine’ leaves its mark on the dancefloor in a reggae disco version, of course! And then there’s the conclusion. So it’s time for an original track. ‘Rubba Sub’, with its sleng teng flavour, proves that far from the hits, the Dynamics are just as willing to deliver fresh, authentic sounds. 

And when the echoes of dub have evaporated and the riddims have fallen silent, all that’s left is a majestic album, in its turn a future classic, filled with the unique sound of the Dynamics, who instinctively blend the echoes of yesterday with their own voices of today.