Jondi and Spesh lept to fame with "We Are Connected" and it has been four years, since that album was released. So now Jondi and Spesh release their 3rd album, Have they grown? What territory are they exploring now?

Jondi and Spesh – The Answer (Spundae Records)

Jondi (John David Moyer) and Spesh (Stephen Kay) have come along way since meeting in the early 90’s in San Francisco. They were huge hits (still continue to be) with the big deejays in the late 90’s with their vinyl releases, they had fans in John Digweed, Paul Oakenfold, Pete Tong, Sasha, Danny Howells, Danny Tenaglia and many, many more. So they released their widely praised album in 2000 called “We Are Connected” to glowing reviews from the music media. It was in the top five best albums of 2000 in a few magazines. Jondi and Spesh spent their time, running their own club night called Qool and their own label called Looq (which is backwards of Qool). It has been four years since their last album and Jondi went and formed Momu with Mark Musselman in those four years. Come 2004, they both decided that it was time to get back into the studio and record another album, and the result is “The Answer” on Spundae Records.

Tracklist

1.The Answer
2.World In Motion
3.Fly (On Your Own)
4.Can You Remember
5.Nomader
6.Back Alive
7.Longest Day
8.Nice One!
9.Ten Cities, Ten Days
10.Everybody went to burning man
11.Ozone

The Answer

The first song to the album is the title track, this is electro and it has that Dave Clarke – World Service CD2 Style. This song is a slow builder and the vocalist here is Spesh, verse one goes “Seems to me, we’re strong enough, seems to me we’ve waited too long, Of all the things I’ve done before, If you could see my not anymore”. It contains a riff with a decent hook that draws you in subtly. We have a break of just the instruments then we move on to verse two, where Spesh sings “More to see why, move to do, take the time to move on you, keep your eyes on our horizon, You’re the one I’ve set my sights on” then the sights on is repeated several times in quick succession. We then go back to verse #1, and then you hear the word anymore repeated several times and then it fades out like the instruments.

World In Motion

This is more of a slow progressive builder, it starts with some freaky noises and then the instruments join in, with some Indian style sounding drums. A female vocal comes in speaking “Put the world in motion” and the track slowly builds. It continues to keep going along at the same pace with the vocal coming in and out. It shows a more mature sound for Jondi and Spesh, four years ago, I doubt they would have made a four-minute track like this in 2000. I can see this being an intro for deejays like John Digweed or Anthony Pappa with the deep progressive elements and the hypnotic vocal.

Fly (On Your Own)

“Fly (On Your Own)” was written and sung by Sez Giulian, the same vocalist from track two. This song is more of a sunny song here, more chill out oriented. The song starts with electronic piano sounds that have been altered greatly. It is extremely laidback compared with the usual Jondi and Spesh stuff. So verse one comes in with talking I don’t’ know where you are but I know you spark with energy and it is proceeded with the chorus that is repeated “That soon you’ll fly, fly, fly on your own”, “Rise, rise, rise to your throne”. The lyrics are positively focused here and some subtle percussion backs the song. Verse two comes in, talking about “Staying true to yourself” then the chorus. Verse three is more the chorus plus a line and a half of more verse then the chorus then verse four comes in talking about “the clock is burning” then the chorus twice more and it ends. Jondi and Spesh have gone deeper with this song but lyrics help push the song. There are too many weak vocals in electronic music today with no meaning but this is not one of them. I think it was wise to bring in another lyricist here, not only does it add to the variety but I think it gives out a perspective that you may not have.

Can You Remember

Song number four is a track with ambient parts. This bass comes in and out; with some drum taps near the back. The vocalists here are Jondi and Spesh but their voices are tweaked to almost like a robot. The lyrics make you ponder and they go “Can you remember the day, you were born (x2), Can you remember your first breath? Can you remember the first color you ever saw?, Can you remember the first word you understood?, Can you remember the time before you born?”. Some lyrics honestly are rhetorical questions, I mean I’m certain I cannot remember my first breath, the first color I saw or remember the day I was born (except the date). It shows that Jondi and Spesh are maturing again here because they are using more vocal songs but also using lyrics that make you wonder. The song continues to repeat the lyrics and it just continues at the same pace as the start till the very end.

Nomader

Here we pick up the pace from the more chill out songs from track 3 and 4. This has more of the Momu sound at times, with the complex arrangement of layers upon layers of sound. It is a percussion driven tune that makes use of different drums woven in with some swirling sound effects. It reminds me at times of Sasha’s Airdrawndagger with the complexity of the music and the layers upon layers.


Back Alive

Song number six is another vocal tune, it seems that more and more producers are going the vocal route for some reason. The vocalist here is a lady named Alysoun Quinby, who I’ve never heard about. This goes more of the same way as track number one with the electro influences but this is not quite full on electro, it is more driving progressive with electro elements. The song starts with “Alive, Alive”, which is repeated. The lyrics are quite simple, they are only four lines, “As I breathe beneath the knife, the darkness opens my eyes, when you put me down to sleep, please bring me back alive”. The song is backed by what sounds like a violin and it adds to the driving progressive song. The verses are repeated and “When you put me down to sleep” is repeated again and again.

Longest Day

Song number seven is more ambient at times, starts with some chilled beats and some percussion taps in the background. The vocalist is Sez Giulian and the vocal is sung very slowly as track 2 and 3 were, it goes on about the sun, the wind, the night and breezes, it really confuses me. This is my least favorite song on the album, it is far too slow and seems to be trapped with meaningless vocals.

Nice One!

Nice One! Starts with a disco house beat with a bass noise that moves in and out rather quickly. Percussion is used to add the funk to this song. A bass guitar plays a few notes and that sound is moved in and out. It is more of a new take on funky house or at least Jondi and Spesh are trying to push the boundaries of their music production.


Ten Cities, Ten Days

The song title here probably refers to a trip that Jondi and Spesh went on or a road trip, who knows. Some spaced out sound effects really push this song, and some percussion is added to it to complement the sound. It seems to be a new take on something from the 1980’s. It has the 1980’s feel to it in places, and I assume that is deliberate. The layers are complex as some of the other songs and you get the feeling, that it is carefully crafted. The song also makes use of some wailing guitars here. It is a nice short song and it is ends with a guitar solo riff.

Everybody went to burning man

“Everybody went to burning man” is based on the burning man festival, which for those who don’t know, is held every year for a week in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. It has grown in popularity in recent years and it is certainly a unique festival. We start with some spacey progressive sound effects layered over some electronic drums and the song slowly builds. A beautiful melodic riff comes in and out at times and this really pushes the song here. A harmonic influenced riff comes in and out at times as well but it does not cross paths with the melodic riff. This is more like the Jondi and Spesh that you expect here. “Everybody went to burning man” is certainly one of the stronger songs on the album.

Ozone

Ozone is one complex song with Spesh’s vocal “Oh” layered over drums and progressive beats. It is probably the best song on this album; this is more of the Jondi and Spesh for old, with more progressive builders than short 4-minute songs. This is certainly a song that will make the progressive lovers, cream their pants in delight. It is finely crafted and a nice way to end the album.

Conclusion:
I’m not a big fan of one of the vocal songs and some of these songs are far too short but the album contains some unexplored territory for Jondi and Spesh here. They have a lot of strong songs in here as well and the good outweighs the bad. They throw the usual progressive songs in this album but the electro influences were a surprise. This album certainly shows how Jondi and Spesh are maturing with their sound, as they get older. This is a far more refined sound than “We are Connected” but I still like their first album more, but "The Answer" will be great for progressive lovers.

Out June 22nd.2004 on Spundae Records and Watch out for their North American Tour in July and August.