Lockdown has done many things to the music industry, but perhaps one of the most unexpected of all was GoodLuck’s 180 degree pivot from electro dance trio to swoony jazzy acoustic outfit. Well, not quite. I’m sure they still have plenty of boogie-bangers up their sleeves, but for now they’ve taken an exploratory journey into stripped down reinterpretations of bygone hits.
Sometime last year Jules sat down at the piano to find a way to reinvent their hit single “Rum & Cola”. Cut to April this year and they’ve delivered an album packed full of revamps and experimental flair – and “Together Like Rum and Cola” comes as the lead single, complete with a dusky accompanying video of Jules tapping out the now fragile piano ballad.
It’s a vulnerable deep-dive into lyricism in a way we’ve never heard from the GoodLuck we know. Jules’ vocals, breathy and pitching, shine as they take the forefront again and again, and within the acoustic intricacies of the album, a prevailing jazzy tangent holds it down, replete in swoony brass, chiming piano and organic percussion.
Amid the crooning ballads and cruising gentle grooves, “Back In The Day We Used To Run” makes its mark as a fan favourite you won’t recognise until the chorus, “Hop On Hop Off Kind of Lover” favours the sultry swells of saxophone, while “We Taking it Easy” clocks in at six minutes with an undeniably groovy reggae rhythm.
As they say, when inspiration runs dry, try something totally different – and, taking their cues from the decidedly slower-paced world around them, GoodLuck’s latest trip down exploration lane goes down a treat.
