Gotts Street Park - Volume Two [EP Review]
Leeds collective Gotts Street Park stay true to their craft with the release of their hotly anticipated soul-spangled project ‘Volume Two’. A rich, jazzy mix of vocal-led tunes and instrumental compositions, this is music built to last.
The three-man band, consisting of multi-disciplinary musicians and producers Joe Harris, Josh Crocker and Tom Henry happily while away the hours crafting their pleasingly fuzzy, jazz flavoured songs, regularly teaming up with cherry-picked soul singers and songwriters whose voices have what it takes to match the band’s rekindled retro sound such as Celeste, Yellow Days, Kali Uchis and Greentea Peng. While the group have consistently released new tunes over the past few years, this is the first big project from the boys since 2017’s ‘Volume One’. Fortunately, the band have remained loyal to their studio-centric approach and smoky jazz-club aesthetic and continue to champion their dedicated, intuitive approach to music.
So much of today’s music feels like it’s sprinting for the bus, but to their credit, Gotts Street Park favour the slow-build; prioritising atmosphere and authenticity over any quick payoffs. ‘Volume 2’s tracks are refreshingly understated and down-tempo, but they nevertheless boast warmth and a soft energy that welcomes and relaxes. Throughout the project, weaving bass guitar lines and hip-hop/R&B rhythms serve as the album’s backbone, ensuring that its languorous songs never drag. A plush mix of dusty drums, pondering keys and lazy, guitar riffs serve as a welcoming, vintage-feel soundscape where the soulful, melodic voices of artists including Pip Millet, Rosie Lowe, Zilo, Flikka and Grand Pax sound very much at home.
Reflecting on ‘Volume 2’, the band’s Josh Crocker adds, “There is this kind of dark, mysterious thing that we do a lot that works.” He continues, “like the song we’ve done with Grand Pax, for example – it's got that kind of witchy darkness to it. I think if you do a really straight male soul voice, it can be a bit cheesy and sound like you've heard it a million times before.” The band should certainly sleep easy knowing that they’ve stayed far, far away from any cheesiness. Instead, they’ve harnessed the robust quality of classic soul artists they admire to create cool, interesting music that will undoubtedly endure.