‘In Session’ – Album Review

Seldom does a musician truly let their audience come across them up close and personal. Even rarer is a band that can capture the intimacy of their raw sound onto an album. Departure Lounge’s In Session has done exactly this. Refreshing, organic, exposed; this is an eclectic mix of jazz and blues, folk and soul. In Session craftily works as a foretaste of the live experience of Departure Lounge, which is where these artists are at their best.

This ten-track appetiser works its way through a variety of facets of Departure Lounge. It represents the specialist areas of each of the artists within the band, from the captain of the ship Oakley Grenall on the guitar, to Chris Burke and Cameron Pearce bringing the strong brass elements. This characteristic of the band is prevalent on this album, especially on the track ‘Ecuador.’

The album opener, ‘Angryman (sell, sell, sell)’ is a tempo-setting groove-battle between the brass section and the resilient percussionists. The album tours through a vibrant ‘Interlude,’ a passionate ‘Forbidden Love’ and interesting tracks ‘A-Rock and ‘Intergalactic’ the latter of which has aspects of a classic rock rhythm but also cosmic overtones.

Scattered amongst the album are guest vocals by Mark Vanilau and Mara TK. ‘Man I Used To Be’ is a particularly heartfelt song with Mara TK really reaching out to the audience. ‘Between The Sheets’ the first of two appearances by Mark Vanilau is sensual and catches all the ambience of an amorous rendezvous. The final track ‘Sienna’ has folk-esque qualities and unites the whole album together.

This album is standout for the manner in which it encapsulates the live performance of Departure Lounge and presents it as well recorded album. It genuinely sounds like this band could be right in front of your stereo performing just for you. Marvellous also is the quality of these artists themselves. It is always fantastic to hear such finesse coming out from the South Island. Only once in a blue moon do you find an album as industrious as this, and that is the magic of In Session

-By Janise