Jamiroquai
Dynamite

THE REVIEW

Thirteen years ago, Jay Kay, the personification of the Jamiroquai soul, was offered an extraordinary contract by Sony, practically unprecedented, assuring the then gaunt young man from Stretford, who roamed with a buffalo leather hat in the realms of the acid jazz revolution, the production of a full eight albums. Sony could not have made a better choice.

Jamiroquai (Jam, from jam session, musical improvisation, and iroquai, from the Iroquois Indian tribe) have sold more than twenty million albums over these years and managed to remain on the UK charts for approximately 150 weeks, generating high revenue for the Japanese major. Much has changed for the young man since his beginnings; Travelling Without Moving consecrated him as an international star, and his concerts are almost always events not to be missed, earning his group the label of a live act with great impact.
Travelling Without Moving tackled the delicate theme of bioengineering. Virtual Insanity, the Grammy-winning single included in the album, dealt with the dangers of cloning.

Now, after four years since the last A Funk Odyssey, Jamiroquai returned on June 20th with a new album titled Dynamite.
If we were to compare this latest work with their early days (Emergency On Planet Earth), we would hardly say it's the same band. While keeping the critical vein against everything that pollutes and damages the world (biogenetics, American colonialism), their sound, always appreciated for its unmissable dose of freshness and at times carefree and introspective atmospheres, seems to have settled definitively on the dance floors, with a funky that seems to have roots tracing back to the disco of thirty years ago, but risks flattening into a standard and at times repetitive sound.
The arrangements are impeccable, also almost all inspired by the disco of the '70s, with jazz hints that we can especially admire in the track Talullah.
Feels Just Like It Should, the opening track, is one of those pieces that shakes the body and encourages dancing.
Dynamite, the title track, is the first true nod to the sophisticated disco of the album, which will be confirmed throughout the listening as the album's general line, if not the new path undertaken by the group.
World He Wants aligns with Jamiroquai's politically engaged productions and reflects on the direction taken by the so-called free world. Starchild analyzes the mental state of a world where television preachers represent the guardians of morality.