Album Review: Marcus Gad and Tamal bring you into their "Brave New World" with their unique and wonderful new LP!

Photo courtesy of Easy Star Records. Photo credit: Valentin Campagnie

Prominent reggae label Easy Star Records has long been known for bringing great reggae music from all corners of the globe to their worldwide audience. One of the most exciting new artists on their roster is the creative and musically progressive Marcus Gad, who just dropped a fantastic full-length project titled "Brave New World". Gad hails from the island of New Caledonia in the South Pacific, a multicultural land deeply rooted in tribal tradition and nature that has had a lasting impact on both Marcus and his music.

For this release, Gad teamed up with long-time collaborator Tamal, a distinguished French beatmaker and producer based in Paris. Like many of the albums we've reviewed this year, "Brave New World" arose from the ashes of the pandemic on the heels of a massive European tour Marcus was forced to cancel. With open and worldly minds, Marcus and Tamal created a strong collection of songs pulling from a wide range of musical influences while still maintaining the sound fans have come to expect from them; and was the perfect follow up to Marcus's previous album "Rhythm of Serenity” and his EP, “Enter A Space.”

“After 'Enter A Space' was released in 2019, Brave New World was an obvious name for the second opus,” says Tamal in a release. “Brave New World refers to this new space we’ve now entered, the world we continuously try to create in our music. Also, this project was born during the pandemic and the lockdown, when the entire world was facing this new crisis.” Marcus adds, “There was this dystopian atmosphere overshadowing the whole situation that made a lot of us wonder if we wanted to be a part of this brand new world out there.”

In conjunction with Gad's mission of embodying "the renewal of a meditative and committed roots reggae bringing forward the unique culture of this small island in the South Pacific Ocean", the duo decided to tune the project to 432hz as opposed to the more common western tuning of 440hz. They explained, “resonating at this frequency prevents stress, promotes relaxation, and can heal our internal systems.”

The album starts out with the title track "Brave New World", featuring an inventive beat utilizing tasteful synths, a funky while still spacious hip hop beat, and unique samples. Gad brings his signature vocal style over Tamal's beat and the mix is executed with cleanliness and precision.

The next stand-out track was the first one written for this project and is titled "Sunshine". “We were about to end our 2018 tour and Tamal and I had been speaking about exploring some new sounds,” says Marcus. “On a long drive between two shows, I ended up recording the first version of ‘Sunshine,’ and thus the project was born.” Once again we get a genre-blending beat, but this time with the addition of a subdued and bubbly synth playing the common backbeat reggae rhythm. Throughout "Brave New World" Tamal and Gad are able to create music that is both heavy and driving, while also relaxed and laid back.

Our favorite song on the album is "Tempo", a track that we have had on heavy rotation since it was first released as a single. The track was inspired by Gad's three-month stay in Morocco during lockdown. It was here that he acquired a loutar, a traditional fretless lute from the Atlas Mountains, which was used as the main musical piece of the "Tempo" instrumentation. If you were to only check out one song on "Brave New World", this would be the one. The groove of Marcus's flow over an absolutely killer beat is undeniable and has us moving during every listen.

The last track we really want to highlight is "Young One". The instrumentation on this track is truly exceptional. A heavy riff performed on distorted guitar starts the track, with jazzy piano and energetic organ kicking in right afterward. The percussion rhythm is relatively straight, giving the rest of the musical pieces space to sit. Gad's singing ability shine's on "Young One", and he infuses a bluesiness to his vocal performance that we very much enjoyed.

From start to finish Marcus and Tamal are able to bring their unique blend of musical influence to life in a cohesive manner, providing a wonderful listening experience from start to finish.

To check out more of Marcus' music and tour dates go to www.marcus-gad.com or www.easystar.com

Tempo by Marcus Gad and Tamal the Daily Reggae Song of the Day.

By Chris Lawrie.