Ezra Collective
won the U.K.'s 2023 Mercury Prize for
Where I'm Meant to Be
, a collision of dancefloor jazz-funk and grooves that won the ears of club punters and critics alike.
Dance, No One's Watching
celebrates the dancefloors the band encountered while touring the world in 2023. For
EC
, these club shows, from London to Lagos, Sidney to Ibiza, from Detroit and Chicago to New York City and Los Angeles. That said, this isn't a celebration of hedonism, but of groove and cultural awareness brought about by dancing in community. The set is mostly instrumental, and also offers several vocal jams. Further, these compositions range across Latin, Afrobeat, post-bop, dub reggae, ska, soul, funk, contemporary jazz, and more.
The short "Intro" emerges with found conversation in a dance club before a dubwise reggae whispers it out. It's followed by the hard-charging Afrobeat "The Herald." The fraternal rhythm section of
Femi
(drums) and
TJ Koleoso
(bass) drives a furious groove as the horn section (trumpeter
Ife Ogunjobi
and saxophonist
James Mollison
) offers a theme that carves space for a killer trumpet solo. "Palm Wine/Cloakroom Link Up" is beautiful intersection of Nigerian highlife, sophisticated U.K. funk, and Afrobeat.
Joe Armon-Jones
' piano solo adds a contemporary jazz dimension. Vocalist
Yazmin Lacey
joins the band on the glorious collision of highlife and neo-soul in the sultry "God Gave Me Feet for Dancing." The buoyant "Ajala," arguably the album's finest cut, is anchored by a furious Congo-funk bass line, frenetic percussion, and blissed-out keyboards that frame layered, overdubbed horns and guitars. On "N29," a spacey weave of
Armon-Jones
' Rhodes and
Koleoso
's bass playing a circular pattern atop his brother's sexy, breaking rim shots fills and accents in a striking example of 21st century soul-jazz. "Hear My Cry" is a curveball as it weds dancefloor funk and soca rhythms with powerful drumming and a distorted two-note synth vamp. "Shaking Body" is a gorgeous exercise in Afro-Cuban salsa as it extends to Anglo funk. Vocalist extraordinaire
Olivia Dean
takes the lead on "No One's Watching Me/Our Element," joining dubwise, horn-drenched reggae and jazzy neo-soul. "Streets Is Calling" features
M.anifest
and
Moonchild Sanelly
alternating raps over a slippery, punk jazz dub. The album slows down as it nears its close. "Why I Smile" is introduced by a limpid bassline and
' acoustic piano, offering arpeggiated post-bop runs inside dubwise horns and a rim-shot snare beat, while "Have Patience" is a gorgeous piano ballad. It introduces closer "Everybody," wherein
' trademark lyricism is offered in rounds that eventually bring in hushed strings, horns, drums, and bass. The tempo and harmony increase until the band carries them out with harmonic majesty.
is an ambitious step forward from
, and a musical extension of its creativity. In all, it proves
's prize-winning debut was no fluke. Look for this killer set to make many year-end lists -- and soundtrack the dancefloors in clubs internationally. ~ Thom Jurek