Name: Take A Shot
Brand: The Fantastics!

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

BBE645ALP

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Colour

black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2021-06-25

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

The Orchard

Tax rate GB

UPC / Barcode

195081047324

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2 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

The Fantastics!

Genre GB

Funk / Soul

Label GB

The Fantastics! are on BBE for <i>Take A Shot featuring Sulene Fleming</i>, the band’s long awaited third studio album, nine years in the making. The Fantastics! story begins back in 2003, when keys maestro and Freestyle Records boss Greg Boraman joined London group ‘Reverend Cleatus &amp; The Soul Saviours’. Officially changing their name to The Fantastics! in 2007, in 2009 the ranks were bolstered by the arrival of prodigious UK vocal talent Sulene Fleming in 2009. Only Greg and bassist Raydn Hunter remain from the band’s original line-up, which now features Mark Norton (saxophone / flute) and James Smith (drums). New member James Byron (guitar) brings yet another fresh perspective on the band’s genre-agnostic approach, which takes Afrobeat, Latin, Rock and Rhythm &amp; Blues influences in easy stride. 

The band have been honing this album at gigs and in the studio for nine long years, during which time singer Sulene Fleming has been busy collaborating with Incognito and Leroy Hutson, as well as enjoying a stint as lead vocalist for The Brand New Heavies. The approach of constantly testing material in a live setting has endowed this record with an indefinable yet distinctive, authentic feel; put simply, it successfully transmits the energy and immediacy of a great concert. The range of sounds to be heard on ‘Take A Shot’ is ambitious, but it feels pretty effortless. From the library music tinged spacey jazz-fusion of ‘Oblique’ and ‘Better Than Dead’, 'Hey Misters'’s intense Hammond driven, risqué sister-funk, ‘Pyramid'’s touching &amp; serene modal jazz-dance, ‘Say You Will’ with its shimmering, sweet &amp; summery soul-pop, the Betty Davis-esque ‘Can't Decide’ which is a straight up funk-rock monster, the deceptively slinky West Coast smooth ‘Mind Time’ that takes a sharp left when you least expect it, the woozy and tripped out ‘St Tropez Blue’ - and of course the album’s title track ‘Take A Shot’ - not only display the ensemble’s collective and solo abilities, but also frame Sulene’s powerful and versatile voice in a wonderfully wide election of musical settings. 

Take A Shot

Music GB