• By Angus Taylor
• On Apr 3rd 2008, 03:48 PM
• |
• 701 page views

His granular voice, mournful sound, and conscious stance (in the most stringently applied sense of the word) have made Jah Mason especially popular among foreign reggae enthusiasts. Yet despite his unique delivery with it unusual stress patterns, he does not have the vocal range and versatility of a Capleton, and there are limits to the number of ways he can approach a tune.

But when he’s on form, he’s amazing, as standout recordings such as ‘Couple Chalice A Day’ (on the Fyah rhythm) and ‘Stick Nor Stone’ (whose rock influenced backing matches the grit of his voice to a tee) have demonstrated. And No Matter The Time, his new album recorded at Black Scorpio studio by Vikings Productions, makes gains on previous efforts, the Byron Murray produced Wheat & Tears and the Frenchy helmed Life Is Just A Journey.

On every track, Mason gives his all. He rides each rhythm perfectly (no mean feat given his unusual approach) spitting forth some striking lyrical imagery; particularly on the powerful, moody ‘Dem Caan Keep Up’ with its stark warning that the reckless will end up in a “church yard full of benches”.

The Vikings team are perhaps a little overly enamoured with synth strings that could have come from the soundtrack of an early John Carpenter film, but the quality of the songwriting here makes up for this a great deal, breathing new life into remakes of Skylarking, the Marvin & Mervyn Williams produced Police In Helicopter and Healing Of The Nations for ‘Black Star Liner’, ‘Free Up The Knowledge’ and ‘Precious Stone’ respectively.

Those only looking for absolute top-drawer classics should possibly download the songs mentioned above, but Mason fans will like this new album a lot.