Returning after a fifteen year sabbatical to a music industry which has changed beyond all expectation in the intervening years is always going to be a challenge, but it’s one which multi-instrumentalist Christopher Nielsen has taken up with aplomb. Taken from his new, thirteen-track instrumental album ‘Our Voyage Home’, ‘Payne’ is a jazzy, funky little number driven by Carmine Appice-style upfront drums and a delicious seventies-toned Rhodes piano lead.
It’s lively, old-school without being dated, rootsy, and very driven; think an instrumental jam breakdown in an Earth, Wind, and Fire concert, or a little Weather Report studio wig out time. Jazz meets soul meets folk all mixed up by pushed percussion and wandering keyboards. It’s fluid, expressive, and genuinely good, uplifting, fun.
‘Payne’, and the rest of ‘Our Voyage Home’, is available on Spotify. Check out Christopher Nielsen’s website here.
Review by Alex Holmes