Bays

Casual observers of New Zealand’s reggae scene may have pigeonholed Fat Freddy’s Drop as a lounge reggae outfit, albeit one with a knack for turning live concerts into slow-broiling groove-heavy jams. But Bays, their fourth studio album, turns the formula on its head. 

The horns are still always there to nail down a chorus, the saxophone seduces on “Makkan”, and Joe Dukie croons with his old suave fragility. But the predominant keyboards plunder other parts of the 1970s: Martian ululations from The War Of The Worlds on “Razor”, or Atari bleeps on “Slings & Arrows”, blend into a compelling hybrid.