New Review of U-Nam “Love in Motion” on the Wave.fm
U-Nam
Love In Motion
When you’ve got a great thing going, there’s never any need to take your foot off thepedal in my opinion. That seems to be a theory embraced by the incredibly innovativeguitarist, producer, composer, and record label proprietor U-Nam upon his new releaseLove In Motion and his third instalment of the Future Love concept.
Picking up where he left off with his two previous masterpieces, U-Nam delivers anotherfunk, soul, fresh, hot and hip new 7 song compilation that shines with exciting rhythmic and infectious melodies and arrangement and production values that are first rate. Adding an additional dimension to this project, is U-Nam’s incorporation of stylish brassby Joabe Reis on trombone and Christian Martinez on trumpet and flugelhorn. And ifthat’s not enough to make this record spark, the string work of Lyudmila Kadyrbaeva oncello and Maria Grig on violin/viola turn these songs into funky symphonies.
Whiz Kid (The) should be a simple reference to the uncompromising creativity andingenuity U-Nam has built his reputation on time and time again, and this first single andcurrent Wave Top 10 smash is a dance/funk marathon, again, complemented with hornsand strings. When I asked U-Nam about the peculiarity of the song title, he stated thathe had the classic cinematic line from the 007 movies in mind, where the lead characterintroduces himself as ‘Bond..James Bond’. Okay then. Works for me.
Changing Times, Miss Funk, Instance Girl are more fine examples of the uptempourban panache that U-Nam’s work is soaked in, each with their own identifying creativequalities and retro richness that he has applied to his craft. One particular track fans willhave elevated appreciation for is his very cool, happier and brighter interpretation of Buffalo Springfield’s curfew-protest classic For What It’s Worth. This particular trackincludes the work of late and highly revered UK guitarist Ronny Jordan on lead guitar.Although the song stayed unpolished for years, it’s believed to be one of the last piecesof work Jordan recorded that only now is seeing light.
Always the ‘romantique’ one at heart (or perhaps with heart), U-Nam delivers two slowertempo offerings with the title song Love In Motion, and Perfect Match (The WeddingSong). Each deliver a soft, smooth, and dare i say sensual and sexy performance anddemonstrate U-Nam’s versatility and multi-dimensionality. I particularly liked the addedtouch of a few gentle guitar bars of ‘Here Comes The Bride’ to conclude Perfect Match.
The Future Love concept is a testament of U-Nam’s resilience to overcome personaldrama and setbacks such as a complicated divorced in recent years, allowing him tochannel his inner emotions and tensions into his love and passion that we know as hismusic. Redirecting his energies has obviously proven to be cathartic and on careerlevel, highly successful.
How long the Future Love album concept continues, only the French born guitarist cansay. But like a serial novel you can’t resist, or an ongoing Netflix series you binge on, hedefinitely will leave craving and desiring more.Reviewed By Stu BerketoOn-air HostWave.fm/ 94.7FM HD2 & 95.9FM HD2
https://wave.fm/index.php/album-reviews/547-u-nam-2