FAT FREDDY'S DROP - Based On A True Story

A dub supercollective. From New Zealand. Two novel factors for a project built on roots-leaning nostalgia and electro avant-garde in almost equal measure. These are the first coordinates of the family led by Dj Mu (also known by the moniker Fitchie), born almost by chance from a handful of singles released starting in 2001 and later partially collected on their debut full-length, "Based On A True Story".

What happens between the project's first sketch and the band's definitive lineup is, first of all, the strengthening of the horn section, made up of trumpet, trombone, alto and tenor sax (whose players come from bands already fairly well known on the circuit, such as Ebb, Trinity Roots and Black Seeds), alongside the already-present vocalists, guitar and piano, and – no minor detail – the founding of their own label, Drop.

It opens with a trilling piano figure over a canopy of dark, dragging brass, with an off-beat entry that introduces a languid vocal line before heading off into dissonance, samples and an acoustic arpeggio. "This Room" is introduced by a bare-bones beat that sets up an electrified concert (again stripped down by the sampler) seasoned with hints of Massive Attack circa "Mezzanine" and late Black Uhuru. "Roady" crosses r'n'b and gangsta rap, acid jazz and funk, Erykah Badu and Erik B & Radim over an insistent dub groove. "Wandering Eye" has guitars and vocals that lean almost soul/Philly, a gait borrowed from Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions" tweaked by keyboards into a bossanova acceleration, then steered back into progressive reggae territory.

But the band can push further still, almost tracing the deep-electro trails of contemporary collective Stromba. On "Ray Ray", the deus ex machina Mu probes a dub-soul instrumental built on hushed electric piano, before opening up a parenthesis of free harmonic reworking. "Cay's Crays" kicks off with surf guitar and an electric piano melody, a vocal chorus that warms up the off-beat rhythm (and accentuates it in the production), leading into a dub suspension (the sampler manipulating again, horns, accordion) and a coda of horns and acoustic guitar over the ever-advancing carpet of the rhythm section. "Del Fuego" hooks an electro beat to acoustic guitar and a monotone vocal, but scatters melodic dust into a new prog-ambient parenthesis and a tempo change with fresh Philly-style incursions. "Hope", via a gentle gospel of double bass and organ with vocalizing over instrumental inlays, reveals the ensemble's existential streak (alongside the ballad "Dark Days").

A self-referential concept largely built on long tracks, dispensing engaging and at times unusual blends, with decent instrumental variety. That's as much a strength as a weakness; conventional songs are often turned into a kind of fractured or repetitive, static or evolving singability. To this must certainly be added Mu's role, tireless in pouring out tons of visionary irony, even at the risk of becoming intrusive and glossing over the fact that there's a personality still to be forged, that the songs lose something in terms of genuineness. Awards from the national Music Awards: band and album of the year, plus the audience award. Eight weeks at the top of the sales charts shattered the record held by another New Zealand indie band, Split Enz.

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30/04/2026