Jamiroquai
Travelling Without Moving

THE REVIEW

It is early September 1996, when the third studio album of Jamiroquai is almost simultaneously released worldwide. For the occasion, the work will be officially presented before the British GP to give visibility to the new launch. The group is the usual historic lineup, with Jason, Toby, and Stuart. The CD booklet is an evident tribute to Ferrari, of which Jason is particularly fond. Against the backdrop of its historic symbol, the little horned man, set into a badge style reminiscent of the Italian car manufacturer's prancing horse, is a grilled grill. On the back, aside from the titles, there is a beautiful close up of a Ferrari engine transformed for the occasion into a "Jamiroquai engine." The whole thing can seem original or in bad taste. That said, it’s been two years since the group’s last work "Space Cowboy." "Travelling Without Moving" is a sort of disco pop concoction with excellent moments, plus the classic funky veins that have characterized the group's sound, less acid jazz. The whole is seasoned with a generous dose of electronics. In essence, goodbye to the old style. Yet with this third album comes and solidifies worldwide success, that of the great audiences. Yet it is a record that lacks something.

The single that will open the success right after the album launch is "Virtual Insanity" which has a winning sound and a music video (it will collect a host of Awards). The piano riff is fitting and melancholic. The second piece, "Cosmic Girl," is truly boring. The video tormented for months, with those high-speed races in Ferrari, and a vague call to '70s disco absolutely insignificant and bland. It annoys me to think of how well-liked it was just because it was pushed so much. Everyone had learned it by repetition.
In "Use the Force" a deep and dark synth dominates in a samba-infused atmosphere. Almost romantic ballad, slightly boring, "Everyday" which feels more like a filler track. More convincing and floating sounds in "Alright" are definitely more decent, always with a funk-danceable imprint, but with a good riff and a closing left to a bass round and percussion worthy of the first two albums. "Hight Times" is well, decisively funk-rock-electronic with a vintage feel. Absolutely useless, decidedly out of theme and sense, the reggae-like "Drifting Along" which I gloss over, "Didjerama" and "Digital Vibration" which pass as filler-aboriginal style exercises. Always skip them with much perplexity.

The engines roar again on "Travelling Without Moving" but the sympathy operation fails. The sound is fast and imbued with disco-funk and the lyrics pay homage to the speed of the engine and metaphorically the synapses greased by fuel-mixture-drug-alcohol. It follows with "You Are My Love": the '70s sound well-structured and stuffed with disco-funky is also pleasant, while not being a memorable piece, it retraces a bit of the old JK sounds. The album closes with the sad "Spend a Lifetime," massaging with a slow and harmonious melody. Nothing much.

However, the ghost track, does somewhat uplift the whole, it was needed. The title should be "Do You Know Where You Come From?" and it is of clear techno-drum&bass lineage. The arrangement and, in any case, the very good basses in evidence make it an interesting piece. It passed by a couple of months on the radio before the official launch of the album, as a mysterious single, and was the victim of numerous mixes for the dance environment. There is a second ghost track, but it doesn't warrant particular notes.

Very little to salvage from this album. We are in an overall phase of content decay: it moves from paying homage to powerful engines to the various effects induced by drugs, to induced mental travels, and to space sounds. Metaphors of excesses and detachment from reality. Out. Regarding the sound we are in a transitional phase. On one hand, the historic identity is being lost to reach the great audiences with more commercial moods, on the other, an evolution (see Sony) is forced without stimuli and filled with distracting elements that fake the "creative necessity" of the entire group (Jason and Zender in particular) too intent on chasing the almighty dollar. The transition will lead to increasingly poor results in the future.