Lamb
What Sound

With only two albums, Lou Rhodes and Andy Barlow, aka Lamb, had established themselves as the Manchester answer to Portishead.
But while the band of 'Dummy', which shares with Massive Attack the paternity of the 'Bristol sound', has quickly shown an irritating slowness in releasing records, with their third work, Lamb reaches full artistic maturity.

Built on the usual and engaging mix of trip-hop and jazz, and enriched by singles like 'Gabriel' and 'One', which in terms of impact evoke the stunning 'Gorecki', the album strikes with emotional intensity more than the already splendid 'Lamb' and 'Fear Of Fours' manage to do.
Less tied to Barlow's sequencers, 'What Sound' is overall more performed and more refined in the lyrics and vocal parts.

The two 'lambs' further confirm their musical growth by opening the recording studio doors to artist-friends who make their presence unforgettable. Thus, we can admire Me’Shell N’degéocello lending her almost funky bass to 'Sweet' or Michael Franti from Spearhead duetting with Lou in the sensational 'I Cry', or once again, in the instrumental piece 'Scratch Bass', witness the clash of cymbals and electronic loops between the Scratch Pervets and Barlow.
Also present at the 'musical gathering' at Lamb’s house were Jim Goodwin from Doves and Arto Lindsay.

Those who waited to criticize them for whether they wrote the new 'Gorecki' or repeated the same successful sound formula are proven wrong; the British duo showcases new sources of inspiration and the desire to open up to other musical realities without renouncing or distorting their appreciated style.