Break Reform's sound is distinctly London in the early Nineties, which, it is becoming apparently clear, is no bad thing in 2003. And it would be no surprise if the trio of JJ Webster, Nana Vorperian and Simon S cut their formative musical teeth during that musical high point when hip hop, jazz, funk and street soul climbed into the same bed and got hot and sexy. It's a formula that is now, almost ten years to the day, re-emerging as a sound of the Naughties. The band's soul intentions are laid out from the start with 'Metropolis', a warm Latin ballad that introduces Nana Vorperian's husky but delicate vocals. From here it gets hard to pull out particular tracks, as we're carried by hypnotic clicking snares through a seamlessly intimate flow of jazz-not-jazz, hip hop not hip hop and funk not funk. The one exception to this being the Portishead-like 'Lady Sings', a single in waiting that has future hit written all over it. Expect to hear this in movies and adverts sometime soon. The amazing thing is that although 'Fractures' barely moves from its mid-paced funky street soul format, there is enough intricacy, variation and melody to keep you locked-on all the way. Ten songs in and the magic actually starts to increase, rather than dissipate, with a flow of superb tracks that starts with 'Mercy', 'Surreal Moments', 'Don't Break This' and rolls into 'Medusa' The tempo rarely shifts beyond a head nodding, pelvic centred groove, but that's what makes this album so addictive.
by Ben Osborne
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