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Put your hands on the remote! browse music »Free & Easy by Lovespirals
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fave it Pop Crossover | Down Tempo
9 tracks | 47 minutes
Released Sep 2005
on Chillcuts
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- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:10 Free and Easy lyrics BUY MP3 05:10 Free and Easy lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:10 Free and Easy
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:40 Hand in Hand lyrics BUY MP3 04:40 Hand in Hand lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:40 Hand in Hand
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:03 Deep in My Soul lyrics BUY MP3 05:03 Deep in My Soul lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:03 Deep in My Soul
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:34 Walk Away lyrics BUY MP3 05:34 Walk Away lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:34 Walk Away
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:49 Habitual lyrics BUY MP3 05:49 Habitual lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:49 Habitual
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:06 Trouble lyrics BUY MP3 05:06 Trouble lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:06 Trouble
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:58 Abide lyrics BUY MP3 02:58 Abide lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:58 Abide
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:54 Love Survives lyrics BUY MP3 04:54 Love Survives lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:54 Love Survives
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 08:25 Sandcastles lyrics BUY MP3 08:25 Sandcastles lyrics "GIFT MP3" 08:25 Sandcastles
Smooth as silk downtempo, deep house, and jazzy rock-infused chill out with a dreamy, sensual vibe featuring seductive female vocals, soulful guitar, groovy Rhodes piano, and a dash or two of sexy sax.
Editorial review
Windblown Kiss was a lovely way for Lovespirals to make a clear move away from the days of Love Spirals Downwards, but Free & Easy is the best evidence that the duo of Ryan Lum and Anji Bee is now distinctly its own creative team. With Lum's guitar playing and arranging now focused on, indeed, free and easy jazz/lounge grooves, Lovespirals here are much more in the creative vein of an act like the Thievery Corporation instead of the Cocteau Twins, say, without specifically cloning either group's sound. Bee's singing is a perfect counterpoint, a blend of classic mid-century jazz-pop flow and a bit of '60s cool in a French or Brazilian sense -- some low-key scatting here, some warm, playful crooning there. The gently hip-shaking title track kicks things off and sets the mood all at once, and from there Lovespirals work through a total of nine songs, all of a piece but each with its own gentle joys. Lum's interest in DJing and techno can readily be heard throughout, more overtly on songs like "Deep in My Soul," which quickly builds into a politely propulsive dancefloor filler, and "Just Trouble" but in subtler ways as well, as listens to "Hand in Hand" confirm. But the overall tone of the album is best captured with songs like "Walk Away," a slow and lovely late-night mood-out with some great keyboard work from Lum to go with his guitar, and "Abide," with its sassy but gentle strut. Concluding song "Sandcastles" might actually be the strongest of the bunch, easygoing and danceable all at once, concluding with a lovely overdubbed a cappella chorus from Bee. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
Bio / Background
Lovespirals' sophomore release, "Free & Easy", is the culmination of this So Cal duo's 3-year exploration fusing myriad musical interests into a satisfyingly smooth sound they refer to as Electro-Acoustic Pop. While "Windblown Kiss" cleverly disguised Lovespirals' digital recording techniques with its focus on organic sounds and more traditional songwriting styles, "Free & Easy" embraces the bands electronic origins, offering a balanced blend of elements from their earlier Dance oriented material as well as their more Rock based Pop offerings.
Every track on "Free & Easy" has its own unique feel; the title track and album opener, "Free and Easy", is laid back Morcheeba-esque Downtempo flavored with old school R&B stylings, including melodious Rhodes piano and Wah guitar.
↓ more ↓"Hand in Hand" takes an earlier Jazz Step single, slows it down to a relaxed Liquid Funk pace, then builds it up with heartbreakingly sweet vocal harmonies, a light jazzy mix of acoustic and electric guitars, and a smatter of saxophone by special guest musician, Doron Orenstein. "Deep in my Soul" -- the funkiest of the bunch -- is an upbeat Deep House track featuring soulful vocals and gritty Wah work, ending on a spiritual note with soaring Hammond organ chords. The album takes another unexpected turn with, "Habitual", whose sparse arrangement and hushed tone recalls some of the late 60's - early 70's music that inspires the band. Album closer, "Sandcastles", further amplifies this retro Rock influence in the form of an extended guitar jam breakdown and dramatic Gospel style closing.
Throughout this 43-minute collection of electro-acoustic Downtempo, Deep House, and jazzy-yet-rock-infused Chill Out, Lovespirals traverse many genres while maintaining a recognizably dreamy, sensual vibe courtesy of the smooth, soulful guitar and Rhodes piano of Ryan Lum, enhanced by the seductive vocals and romantic lyrics of Anji Bee.
BACKGROUND/BIOGRAPHY:
Lovespirals began in 1999 as an outgrowth of multi-instrumentalist Ryan Lum's previous band incarnation, Love Spirals Downwards. Following the release of his 10,000+ selling crossover Electronica/Ethereal Rock breakthrough, "Flux", Lum began working as a DJ and dance track producer, collaborating with vocalist Anji Bee, and members of Subliminal Records duo, Monkey Bars -- Doron Orenstein and Gabriel D. Vine -- on a string of atmospheric Jazz Step Drum 'n' Bass and Downtempo tunes released on comps like "Chill Out in the City" and "Chill Out Lounge Vol. 2".
2002 brought the release of Lovespirals' first full-length album, "Windblown Kiss", which found the duo of Lum and Bee experimenting with Rock, Folk, and World influenced songwriting, in addition to Jazz, for a very organic feeling, though electronically created, sound. Well received, Jazz Review's Lee Prosser proclaimed Lum "a master of guitar," while Music Tap's Matt Rowe ethused of Bee, "shockingly beautiful and sultry vocals... erotically charged."
2005 finds Lovespirals' marrying their earlier dance elements to their subsequent rock pop sound, combining their favorite aspects of every genre - those most beautiful, haunting or groovy - to create their own special blend of Electronica, Jazz, Blues, Soul and Rock on their sophomore follow-up "Free & Easy". The interplay of Bee's sensual vocals and Lum's emotive guitar playing illustrate their love of melody and harmony in songcraft, something all too often missing in electronica music.
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