Tarrus Riley is not a man in a hurry. We had to wait almost three years for "Contagious", which followed the excellent "Parables", the album of his coronation. Five years on, we can at last discover his new songs. Tarrus Riley takes his time, then, and clearly does what he likes. The "Mecoustic" project, an acoustic compilation of his songs released in 2012, is revealing in this respect: Jimmy Riley's son is in a position to choose what is close to his heart. His new album, "Love Situation", is part of the same artistic independence. In the age of soporific dancehall and the media return of reggae, Tarrus Riley wrong-foots the music scene with an album conceived as a tribute to rocksteady.
Was it the recording of Young Heart (taken from the Heptones' Break up to make up) on the album "Contagious" that gave him this idea? Whatever the case, "Love Situation" sits entirely within the rhythm that preceded reggae. Dean Fraser and Tarrus Riley went digging in the catalogues of Duke Reid, Coxsone Dodd and Sonia Pottinger. More than half of the songs rest on riddims drawn from this blessed period: we come across two John Holts, Strange Things and My Heart Is Gone (respectively Cum Get Your Ish and Thank You), two Alton Ellises, If I Could rule this world (Five Days) and Big Bad Boy (Lost for words). Let us also mention the Gaylads' ABC Rocksteady (1,2,3 I Love You), the Melodians' I'll Get along without you (Cry No More), and Slim Smith's Version of Love...
As you will have gathered, "Love Situation" speaks only of love. Of lovestruck love (1,2,3 I Love You, Lost for words), of wounded love (Cry No More, Version of Love), of threatened love (Dem A Watch)... The subjects are inexhaustible. Tarrus Riley has already sung a great deal about love and its trials. His soul singing, which suits this theme perfectly, marries wonderfully with the riddims orchestrated by the untouchable Dean Fraser, with a special mention for Burning Desire and Five Days. Note the appearances of Big Youth and U-Roy, as in the days when rocksteady gave deejays enough space to emerge. On Five Days, the presence of the rapper Mr. Cheeks (of the group Lost Boyz) injects modernity, his hip-hop flow contrasting with Big Youth's good old toast. A pity there is no duet between father and son, which would not have been out of place in this tribute to rocksteady. It is undeniable: the colour and tone of the album are very homogeneous and "Love Situation" breathes quality work.
All the same, one might also find "Love Situation" a little smooth. Lighter, the end of the album tends to blur the enchantment of the beginning. The remixes of his hits Gimme Likkle One Drop and To The Limit (the latter with Konshens) ultimately add little to the originals, and the more syrupy compositions are not avoided, with pronounced r&b sounds and female choruses that are sometimes overwhelming. Very coherent, even downright monolithic, "Love Situation" lacks the diversity of "Contagious" (in both its themes and its vocal palette), and one may regret not finding here a critical, social dimension, not to mention any dancehall incursion. As if, having toned down some of his most consensual tendencies, Tarrus Riley took a mischievous pleasure in plunging back into them.
Pull Up:
- Five Days
- Burning Desire
- Dem A Watch
- Lost For Words
- Cum Get Your Ish
