New Town Kings - Reach Out (Self-published)

In the track list a few roots tunes (excellent opener and title track 'Reach Out', 'Borderline', about the current global migration crisis, where invisible lines in the sand make the difference between living and surviving, the heart-breaking closing track 'Lullaby', a declaration of love from a father to his daughter, written in memory of one of lead vocalist Daniel 'Dabs' Bonner's friends who passed away a while back leaving behind a young daughter), but mostly vintage upbeat sounding ska and rocksteady (the great 'Music', about the essence and power of music, immediately one of our favourites on 'Reach Out'), with the band alternating between vocal cuts and instrumentals (the wonderful 'The Hawk'). 'Coconut Tree' - "Mango, papaya and tangerine, sun beating down on a clear blue sea, living in a place where I am free, build a house in the shade of a coconut tree..." - sounds like a song that could have come from the heydays of the nineteen sixties ska era, and 'Deep Water', about the fate of a ladies man, is in the same vein. 'Francine' sounds more like rhythm & blues meets early ska, and  then there's a noted guest appearance by Jamaican veteran Sylford Walker, invited to revisit one of his biggest hits, 'Burn Babylon'. Cheerful upbeat album guaranteed to leave listeners with a smile on their face.