Aside from a few one-off featuring appearances, Neneh Cherry has not been heard from much since her 1996 masterpiece Raw Like Sushi. The one-time trip-hop chanteusse has been out of the spotlight for some time now but she has found one hell of an inroad to return with. That would be her new album The Cherry Thing, and it is the wildest entry to her small but potent canon. What makes this release so different from her others is the inclusion of Swedish jazz trio, The Thing. Considering that The Thing named themselves after a song by Don Cherry – that would be Neneh's father - this collaboration is not so much a revelation as it is an inevitability.
Most of the songs on the album are
covers that range from quite natural selections (Martina
Topley-Bird's 'Too Tough To Die' and Ornette Coleman's 'What Reason
Could I Give?') to the downright absurd (MF DOOM's 'Accordion'). It
is to the testament of everybody involved that the whole ordeal comes off
very evenhandedly as opposed to a haphazard collection of disparate
cover songs. Even poppa Cherry gets a look in with a very subdued
take on 'Golden Heart'. This unholy but entirely organic pairing take a
free-wheeling approach to the material at their disposal that is as mad as it is infectious. Even the
brutish Stooges classic 'Dirt' cannot escape their delicate fervor.
The Cherry Thing's interpretation of this song is a balancing
act between the original's narcotic stomp and the fiery jazz
maelstrom at their fingertips. Every time the saxophones howl and
spiral out of control you are thrown back into the relative safety of
that legendary leaden groove.
Cherry's voice is the driving element
underpinning many of these outlandish compositions. She is smoky,
lusty, and sensual but is also capable of great sonic violence should
the need arise. See how, at just over the one minute mark, opening
song 'Cashback' folds and crumples into a lopsided salsa while Cherry
keeps time. The Cherry Thing is a restless record that never
stands still long enough to be fully pinned down which, I'm sure, suits Neneh and co perfectly.
Rating: B+
Recommended tracks: Dirt, Cashback
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