Rating: NN
Warp Records veteran Nightmares on Wax (aka George Evelyn) makes some very polite funk these days. His new album, Feelin’ Good, is perfect for drinking a nice glass of warm milk to before curling up on the couch to read a gardening book but would be pretty hazardous to listen to while operating heavy machinery.
There are moments when things threaten to break a sweat, like the percolating reggae disco of Now Is The Time, but ultimately those moments fail to live up to any initial promise. It’s only when Evelyn gives up his attachment to smoothness and lets the digital seams and processing show that he really connects, like on the simmering dubby house of Tapestry.
It’s tempting to blame the album’s blandness on nostalgia. Evelyn has a lot of history to live up to and can’t move too far from that 90s UK instrumental hip-hop feel he helped define. But compared to this, much of his old work still sounds more vital.
Top track: Tapestry
Nightmares on Wax plays the Hoxton November 20.
