You could call it 'new age', weren't it deeply rooted in the music of old.
Partly inspired by a visit to the Southern Hemisphere, "Time To Think" isn't hot and humid, but immensely warm as any great memories should be. And this music couldn't be recorded any other way than live - over two consecutive days in July 1999, at St. Michael's church in Oxford - and in the company of good friends with a collective CV reading like a rock encyclopedia, Mo himself the most renown of the bunch.
It's not the reverend bassist, though, who comes first to the fore in the opening "It's About That Time Of Day", yet Ray Russell weaving acoustic guitar over Simon Chamberlain's piano chords before the four-string bubble delicately breaks an almost classical lace into a breezy swing and then tastily leads a mighty, if relaxed, "Leo" - dedicated to Fender, of course. Two pieces in, everybody feels it's there that a listener belongs, no matter if he's not up for thinking of this effortlessness' complexity, especially when Iain Ballamy's sax, backed with a church organ, soars solemnly for "A Notional Anthem" or, coupled with Frank Ricotti's vibes, brings forth the sunrise of "Omapere Dawn".
But while "Waves II", the only solo bass workout on the album, is deceptively serene as the Pasific itself, there's enough grit in it as well: "Mangonui" jolts and jives lurching and careening like jovial WEATHER REPORT down on sedatives - framing the fire is an art, and cutting afresh a couple of tunes from the "Southern Comfort" album, too. With "Let's Go On Somewhere" a heartfelt call for an easy walk in unison, you'll hardly need much time to think before accepting the proposal.
*****
