Molly and The Chromatics – Pressure Moving: Album Review

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Molly and The Chromatics want to convey that the tension is breaking and resolving. Their debut album Pressure Moving is full of songs of soft Soul Jazz with a little Funk.

A dynamic Neo Soul Revue band on stage. The group coalesced around the little music delta that is Takapuna to Devonport. A hub for Folk and Jazz musos and inclusive of the Young Turks. Lorde comes from Takapuna Grammar.

Molly Rowlandson is the diminutive focal point as singer and occasional flautist. Tom Taylor keyboards, George Edgar guitars and bass and Sam Horgan drums are the nucleus of the Chromatics.

Molly and The Chromatics
Molly & The Chromatics at The Tuning Fork, 12 December 2020. Photo by Rachel Webb

Goddess and a big bass drum signals the start of engagement. Pop tones with a soft Funk rhythm. Understated soft Jazz voice with a seductive edge. Goddess is an archetype. The Id which informs the Ego or the Self that is presented to the world. Molly has talked a little about the serious illness she faced about eight years ago. Mortality confronted when most people would be feeling vibrant. The singer has muscle inside that smooth tone.

Be yourself said Oscar Wilde. Everyone else is already taken.

Hold Tight has a faster swinging groove which is all vamp. The bass leads, there are congas and it’s Disco with a hard edge. A little Latin R’n’B swing is present. On stage they make this a highlight as they extend out to sound like a classic Northern Soul dance-floor filler.

Without Me. Not too far from Norah Jones in sound. Molly’s phrasing makes it distinctive. The bass is bending notes. Tasty Lounge Jazz.

Let It Go. I’ve been finding it so hard to let go. Emotional and soulful. Flynn Blackwood has co-lead vocals and engages in some nervy Speed-Rap. After that you notice the Mama Heartbeat drums.

The showcase for the singer is Blue Book, to my ears. More versatile than Norah Jones. Soft and nuanced and adds colour without bombast or pyrotechnics. There is a level of introversion as well as seduction.

Mad People and electric popcorn rhythm. Pop with an edge of Funk. Moving in a herd like animals/ Swarming like ants on the ground. Inspired by the Notting Hill Carnival. From a seventh-storey apartment building for that view. The shadow of UB40, as there is a little Dub Reggae feel.

Does this qualify as Dad Rock too? This is an album to appeal to older ears, as well as the young audience they attract.

Blue Light has a collage cut-up of taped voice fragments. Rhythm with glassy keyboard accents.

Expectations come back in with hand drums and a Latin groove. The keyboards swirl. A pulsing beat chugs and spins it up to a good workout of Disco Swing. Pick me up and put me down.

I Have Hunger. Got no plans/ Just doing what I can/ The person that I am/ Thinking about the future/ About the past. A louche rhythm and the horns step out. They have been muted in the background for most of the album.

SJV closes the album and it sounds like a vibraphone kicks it off. Precise soft Soul Jazz singing with the horns dispersing the groove to a certain extent. Smooth as a merlot. Finishes with coming apart at the seams and a finale of kaleidoscopic sound.

The debut album collects half a dozen recent singles. Which are also highlights of their live shows. They write and play as an ensemble and it shows in the spare and detailed production.

Closing in on calamity/ Swarming humanity is a parting shot from Mad People. And Mad World as seen through the eyes and ears of these young Neo-Soul rebels.

Rev Orange Peel

Rev Orange Peel
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