Guiding Star Orchestra: Communion

What are 7 years when it comes to the successor to the praised "Natural Heights"-Album by the Danish Guiding Star Orchestra goes! The new release "CommunionIn contrast to its predecessor, Tribe 84Records only contains eight tracks (none this time Dubs what on a separate Dub-Album gives hope), but which are worth listening to: Finest instrumental Roots Reggae with elaborate brass sections and not so subtle ones at all Dubeffects that also work well live:

The fact that experienced musicians are at work can be heard from the first note and culminates in the solos of the wind instruments - grandiose work on trombone, flute and saxophone. Nevertheless, I wouldn't put the jazz stamp on the whole thing, the thing simply grooves too well: bass & drums behave as driving forces - sometimes as rockers, sometimes as one drop.

Ultimately, “Communion” is undoubtedly a superb album, but does it deserve five stars? Not quite, because fade-outs are really no longer necessary or appropriate, especially with well-arranged instrumentals. Then you also have to say a few words about the sound of the album: Compared to "Natural Heights", here you have gone into somewhat more bass-heavy realms. Which isn't a bad thing per se and is even desirable in the genre - as long as it doesn't come at the expense of the heights. A comparison of the two albums by the Guiding Star Orchestra makes the difference in sound clear. That may be complaining on a high level and doesn't affect one or the other listener in the slightest - but above all it shouldn't stop anyone from dealing with the album, especially since it's about 35 minutes of the finest music.