Bleep

The resurgence of Horace Andy continues with yet another smoking collection of reggae dubs and dancehall reworks on the legendary On-U Sound entitled Midnight Scorchers. A performer with over 50 years experience in the music business, most in the electronic music world have gotten to know him through his guest vocal work with Massive Attack or touring of his 1970’s Jamaican hits. On-U’s prior Midnight Rocker LP from earlier in 2022 looked to switch things up by showcasing Andy's remarkable skill as a vocalist and arranger. A veritable tour-de-force pieced together over several years, Midnight Rocker has received stellar reviews from key voices in the music press, and is currently in its fifth pressing - now On-U is now adding fuel to the fire with Midnight Scorchers.

In the Jamaican tradition of dubs, guest toasting, and versions, Midnight Scorchers gathers up reworks (both instrumental remixes and new editions with added vocal cuts) alongside stray tracks from the Rocker sessions that did not fit into the original sequencing. Like the title track, many of these songs take the bones of Andy’s work on Rocker and blow it out to much headier zones with the use of dub echo. Best of all though, is the redone ‘Feverish’ - a quintessential tune from Andy’s Studio One days, this new version adds an almost jazzy hyperactive drum break that places it firmly in the contemporary style of today. In the same spirit of reworking sounds to stress different rhythms and timbres, the album art for Rocker has also been re-jigged into graffiti by the animator Ruff Mercy, making this a fitting tribute to a legend of reggae.