Last month we highlighted a lovely new single from JONAS RENDBO, ‘Pick Me Up’. Jonas may be a new name to most but in his native Denmark and the broader Scandinavian hinterland, he’s a big, big name … affectionately known as “Godfather of Scandinavian Soul”, he’s released plenty of classy music over the last 20 years but never quite broken out.
Mr R is also an avowed Anglophile, spending much of his time in London where his wife’s from and it was in London that he teamed up with producer/mixer The Scratch Professor (Omar’s brother, of course) to work on some tracks. That was back in 2009 but in early April Jonas polished them up and the lithe and lovely ‘Pick Me Up’ was the first fruit.
Now the whole EP is good to go. It’s called ‘4ward Fast To Future’ and it is a gentle, sweet, reassuring affair. Laid-back like the best neo soul, the sound is real wrap around , typified best by the mini album’s title track and, a big bonus in these difficult times, is that there’s nothing that’s in your face… even ‘Let’s Fight’ is underplayed. Maybe the best lockdown tune is ‘What’s Cooking’ where the advice is to switch off the news, go offline and find yourself. Yes, easier said than done… but give it a try. The EP will help!
