English label Tru Thoughts is home to many talented artists, including TM Juke, Diesler, Alice Russell and Australia’s own masters of funk, The Bamboos. It is Will “Quantic” Holland who truly flies the flag for the label though, both with his solo albums and his “Soul Orchestra” releases. It is fitting then that “An Announcement to Answer” is the hundredth release put out by the label, and a cracker of an album it is too.
My previous experience of Quantic’s solo work comes from his 2002 album, Apricot Morning. While a good album, some tracks gave the impression that while Quantic had a lot of ideas, many weren’t able to sustain a full track on their own. This gave rise to a number of tracks with a cobbled together feel, a feel shared by “Tell It Like You Mean It” on this album. A blend of jazz, broken beat and an almost drum and bass type vibe, this is the one track on the album that doesn’t really work due to an excess of different sounds and especially tempo changes.

Long time Quantic collaborator, lice Russell, is not on this album, but judicious use is made of the vocal talents of Noelene Scaggs from The Rebirth and MC Ohmega Watts. “Politick Society” uses the more subtle style of Noelene Scaggs (as compared to the big sound of little Alice Russell), along with a mesmerising latin beat to produce a gorgeous summery sounding track with a political message. Quantic shows he’s not bad at making a hip-hop joint either, with the sublime “Ticket to Know Where” featuring Ohmega Watts. The MC’s simple but well delivered lyrics complement the jazz/funk beat that Quantic delivers, and this chemistry between rapper and beat-maker is also evident on “Blow Your Horn”. The standout track of the album comes from a collaboration with Puerto Rican percussionist Tempo. A sprawling 7-minute latin/jazz/funk monster that will get all but the most lethargic dancing.

I recently read a review of this album which compared it to Ninja Tune’s output circa 1998 – a comparison that suggests that the reviewer either didn’t listen to this album very closely, or that they were not particularly well acquainted with Ninja Tune’s back catalogue. This album was put together mainly on a laptop while travelling through Puerto Rico, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Ethiopia. These influences, informed by Holland’s knowledge of funk and jazz have produced an excellent album.