The Singles Jukebox

Once more with the not-quite-crossing-over…

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[6.64]

Michaelangelo Matos: U.K. funky by way of late ’90s 2step by way of early ’90s pop-house: it can be hard to differentiate them, not that I’m complaining in the least when it sounds this effervescent. It makes me want to play my, my, my, my bongo.
[8]

Alex Macpherson: Through the twists and turns of UK funky in 2009, Fuzzy Logik and Egypt’s “In The Morning” has been a delightful constant. It’s bubbly, giddy, Egypt not so much riding the beat as tripping down it as the champagne goes to her head, but it’s also deceptively firm. There’s no uncertainty about “In The Morning”, and consequently it’s strong enough to hold its own in any context.
[10]

Spencer Ackerman: Near-unlistenable disco with drag-queen vocals. Got kind of a skip beat. Life is too short.
[2]

Mallory O’Donnell: Dance miniscene of the moment UK Funky seems more a suitable compass pointing towards the current house revival trend than a potential source of crossover hits. Then again, if it dishes out a few more tracks like “In the Morning,” with its effortless combination of retro feel and modern production, it may serve as both. The hard stutter drum pushes up so very perfectly against Egypt’s mocha voice and this kind of contrast is exactly what garage, UK soul, and just plain music all across the board needs right now.
[8]

Pete Baran: There is something wonderfully stripped down about this; it has the anything-can-happen charm of a lot of early-90s dance. Even the Binatone backing seems clearer and more bubbly than anything I have heard in an age. Like Basement Jaxx without the bells or whistles or banjos or pointless breakdowns or whatever the Jaxx have thrown at their songs recently.
[8]

Alfred Soto: Robin S’s “Show Me Love” updated for the post-post-modern age: softer, smaller, faster, weaker. I want to hear the remixes.
[5]

Rodney J. Greene: For a couple of months, I was offput by the dinky popcorn synth lead and the simplicity of the drum pattern, looking to funky house for idiophone madness and cross-rhythmic chords as I do. I had a quick turnabout once I realized how much that stuttered synth line really drives the syncopation, almost echoing a broken beat percussion track while allowing the drum programming here to be more straightforward. I also came around to Egypt’s vocal, which, contrary to convention, is neither anthemic nor sultry, but pitched somewhere betwixt, playing at the edges of different emotions without over-committing.
[8]

Alex Ostroff: “In the Morning” was apparently ubiquitous this summer in Ibiza and Ayia Napa, and had I encountered it in July, I would likely be more predisposed to liking it. The ping-ponging electronic melody has a funky Latin swing, and Fuzzy Logic plays with the arrangement enough to keep it interesting — dropping out everything but the bass, layering textured synths, and so forth. The best of UK Funky has a build and release to it (see: Kyla) that verges on transcendent — something this is sorely lacking.
[4]

Cecily Nowell-Smith: I just can’t get my mind round the idea that this wasn’t a hit. It was everywhere this summer just gone, on car stereos and mobile phones and in my head as sure and bright as sunshine. There’s nothing to it, nothing at all, a simple loop and simplistic verse, and when you get to that one-line chorus it’s some huge fierce burst of joy, let your love come in, let your love come in. It’s exactly the song that comes home with people like a summer tan, stays warm and bubbly in the chilly autumn charts — and it didn’t. Or at least, it came home, but who bothered to go out and buy it? It’s weird: I never really thought about this one, that people wouldn’t buy their holiday song the same way they wouldn’t get photos developed any more, because it’s just not necessary. I keep thinking: if it’s not a hit, how are we going to remember it existed? How will anyone know what summer 2009 sounded like? Dear nostalgists of the future: it sounded like this.
[8]

Additional Scores

Anthony Easton: [7]
Martin Skidmore: [5]