Ordinary Days, the fourth and finest album from Julie Lamb and her fantastic band will be launched Saturday, March 11, Mac’s Function Centre, Wellington, 7.30-11.00pm. Entry is FREE!
The title of Julie Lamb’s new album might claim “Ordinary Days” – but it was clearly a special time in the studio, magic happening and lightning bottled this fourth time around.
The Wellington-based singer/songwriter and bandleader can boast of a career highpoint with the 11 songs here, tunes traversing the funk, soul and pop fields as they always have but now, rightfully, a band sound has cemented. This is the fourth outing for Julie and band but some of the members are caught here for the first time. It’s a band sound that’s been building across the last decade – vocal arrangements supported by horns, all of it swimming in the liquid tone of the guitar and lapping sound of the bass and drums.
Ordinary Days is the soundtrack to a summer Wellington might never have – at least not all in a row. The 11 songs here ride on funky guitar lines and the soothing sass from the saxophone and trombone. The snare drum snap signals a finger-click call to the rest of the band and as Lamb shares her tales of sleeplessness and the pressures of work and mental health, of the fight to get through each day and the right to wear a smile at the start of any night (and hopefully right through from there) she’s supported by the warmth and thrill of both the band and her choir of backing singers (Debra Rock-Evans, Ree Thomson, Miranda Turner). Theirs is a collective sound to drink in, the perfect satiation for the musically parched. Sunshine bursts through with the title track’s effortless exuberance, Hashtag On A Good Day is an a capella ode to the capital city’s weather – recalling the songs and style of When The Cat’s Away and The Front Lawn. Elsewhere there’s a jazziness (Mind Flit) or a deep soul plunge (Why Do I Forget?) but it’s actually about the dreamy merge of these songs – very much an album, a 43-minute car-ride of music; a soundtrack to pack alongside the beach ball and picnic blanket.
Ordinary Days oozes talent, charm and soul – as the Julie Lamb Band consolidates on the previous albums and finds a collective sound, a co-lamb-oration if you will… And you should. You most definitely should. “Ordinary Days has a nice chilled Kiwi vibe, refreshing and fun. This is highly recommended listening.” Corinner, www.muzic.net.nz
The launch party features five a cappella songs written by Julie and performed by 10dd and friends, followed by the presentation of the album by the Julie Lamb Band and then it’s time for a party with well-known covers and upbeat, funky originals primed for dancing. Mac’s Function Centre will be dressed for the night with lightning design by Tymar, audio by Sounds Good and set design by Supercolour.