Mocky - 'Saskamodie' (Crammed Discs) Released 01/06/09

Until now, Mocky’s best-known role has been that of a producer-arranger, a multi-instrumentalist trusted with enhancing produce by, among others, Jamie Lidell, Peaches and Feist. ‘Saskamodie’ should change all that. For it’s that rarest of treats, an album that delivers a total K.O. without ever resorting to brute force or look-at-me showboating; instead, these twelve often stunningly beautiful tracks creep into the listener’s good books gradually, revealing more and more of their considerable charms with each listen, until you notice the CD’s been parked in the player for ages and shows no signs of retreating back into its covers anytime soon.

Having swapped the electronically enhanced beats and bleeps of his three relatively little-known earlier solo albums for a more organic, soulful approach, it’s temptingly easy to assume the Berlin-based multi-instrumentalist born as Dominic Salole’s hopped on the reheated retro soul bandwagon. But although ‘Saskamodie’ shares certain key references with headline-grabbing, backwards-gazing Motown enthusiasts, Mocky shows zero interest in the reassuring familiarity of bland pastiches and cheesy horn charts here. Drawing from an immense array of influences, the album conjures a caressing web wherein vintage soul, modern r’n’b, horizontal funk, easy listening and smooth jazz can not only co-exist harmoniously, but also somehow conjure the exact opposite of the type of toothless lethargy and insubstantial prettiness that list of templates suggests.

Due not least to the immensely lovely ballads ‘Birds of a Feather’ and ‘Somehow Someway’ and the playful, genre-defying pick & mix approach to influences the duo share, Jamie Lidell’s the nearest point of comparison to what’s on offer here. ‘Saskamodie’, however, eschews cutting-edge electronics in favour of a warm atmosphere built predominantly with acoustic instruments. Lidell’s trademark vocal acrobatics, meanwhile, are replaced by instrumentals that practically drip with the kind of unadorned, seriously beautiful melodies that belie the fact it’s taken until 2009 for someone to discover them.

Picking highlights is futile – from the minimalist whisper of ‘Little Journey’ and David Axelrod in a silent way widescreen float of ‘Music of My Mind’ to the gentle groove of ‘Golden Dream’ and jazzy workout ‘For Pepecito’, ‘Saskamodie’ never puts a foot wrong. It’s hard to figure out how a talent this bright has managed to muster the patience to play second fiddle to anyone for longer than a few minutes. If there’s any justice, he won’t have to again. The musical equivalent of a heartfelt hug from someone very special, ‘Saskamodie’ is fit to sooth the most troubled of minds.