I’m all for a bit of spaced-out soul music.

Hell I love the stuff. In fact that whole seventies cosmic/sci-fi reference thing is where I choose to live. I understand the importance of creating a hyper-real persona (although it has to be handled carefully not to piss people off- *cough* clutchy hypkins *cough*), especially in the super-bland world of contemporary american black music-I guess you’ve got to overcompensate a little to differentiate yourself.

So you’re SA-RA, you are making some really good music-It’s left enough to get the jazzy dudes and the fashion-heads interested, but straight enough to sell to those (still) musically curious soul folks-you’re doing so much right and then you go ruin it. You start getting so into you’re own image you start saying stuff like;

“Honestly, when we first started this collective, I swear I got a message from the creator. I asked ‘Is this gonna be worth my time, my energy and my effort?’ A message from the universe came down and said ‘This is gonna be bigger than anything you could have ever imagined.’ And, I think very big, you know what I’m sayin’? All of us do. So, to hear that message come from the universe, it could be nothing less than something that’s gonna affect the whole universe…and this whole planet, definitely. I think we’ll be a part of turning this planet and changing the world for the better, permanently. I think Sa-Ra and the individuals will definitely play a role in what’s gonna happen in the world’s history.”

And maybe it’s just you being funny (or in character)-but it just makes you sound like a bit of a dick and it taints the music, makes it harder to get into-cause everytime I start really feeling it I have to actively try and disconnect what I’m hearing from the image I have of the band who have made it.

And, as it often does, eventually it comes back to that eternal constant-you can’t disconnect the music from the person who’s singing it. So the best policy (if you are ever in doubt) is either to really think about what you’re gonna say before you say it or keep it like Prince in the 80’s and don’t say anything at all.

Just let the music do the talking.

(it’s pretty enough for you not to have to talk at all)

SA-RA Creative Partners-Hey Love

buy it here