The general theory on cover songs is if you’re going to do it, make it count. The lone cover on Sam Huber’s new album, DOWN, does that in spades. Spearheading what amounts to a legit supergroup with original funkateers Michael “Kidd Funkadelic” Hampton and Amp Fiddler, the ever-present True Groove All-Stars, and longtime producer/co-writer Tomás Doncker, Huber offers up a blistering take on the classic P-Funk deep cut “Hit It & Quit It.”
Alien guitars and synth runs supercharge the proceedings while Huber’s vocals prowl and growl with laid back ferocity. It’s what he calls ‘Future Funk,’ a post-modern spin on the fundamentals of funk with sounds and beats that are earthbound and interstellar all at once.
DOWN, the follow-up/companion album to the recently releasedUP (both on True Groove Records), is Huber’s ‘Future Funk’ manifesto. Just as UP’s concept of ‘Future Soul’ is rooted in vintage soul while looking and thinking beyond the horizon at the same time, DOWN is pure ‘Future Funk.’ “DOWN is where you Get Down,” Huber notes. “It’s a landscape that happens on the dance floor, on the downbeat. You might say this album explores the darker side of Future Funk; it’s quite a bit heavier, musically and lyrically, especially compared to the more lighter and romantic songs on UP.” The album’s nine tracks traverse a world of grooves that go from only a star shaped pair of sunglasses away from being a lost Bootsy Collins track, to the dance floor, outer space and back. DOWN – also featuring subsonic bass riffing from the iconic Bill Laswell – manages to strike the unique balance of being undeniably hardcore funk while remaining completely accessible to those not informed by the musical teachings of George Clinton, et al. With deep, almost subsonic, woofer shredding bass, vintage analog and modern digital synths and deliberately slower grooves, it’s easy to see what the darker side he references is all about. But just as funk ‘can not only move, it can remove,’ the music compels you to get down and lifts you right back up. “There are some darker themes in the lyrics, like dealing with the pandemic and all its side effects, climate change, alcoholism, co-dependency and depression. But there is also room for optimism and love so it’s not a depressing album. No matter how dark the world seems there has always have to be hope in what ever you do. The positivity comes from love, friends and music.” In a truly old school Funk move, DOWN will be released with UP as a double vinyl LP called UP & DOWN in 2022.
“Hit It & Quit It” – SoundCloud link:
“Down” – Spotify album link:
photo credit: Sami Kulju
