X-Press 2 - Makeshift Feelgood

X-Press 2 - Makeshift Feelgood image

Released 25^th September 2006

Presenting, for your foot-tapping pleasure and mind-expanding enjoyment, the men of X-Press 2. Rocky, Diesel and Ashley Beedle have been away for a while, sweating in the DJ trenches, frequenting international clubs aplenty, trapped in the studio with Sixties sunshine-pop LPs, wrangling vocal stars from far and wide. But four years after they - and David Byrne - swaggered to Number Two in the charts with "Lazy", then waltzed home with an Ivor Novello Award, the X-Press 2 three are back.

Back with "Makeshift Feelgood", the follow-up to the 100,000 selling Muzikizum. The boys are back with more of an album album. As Rocky puts it, "the new album has moved from only sounding good at three in the morning - we’d like to think that it sounds pretty good at three in the afternoon too."

"Oh boy, oh shit, let’s record it" open with the unique sounds of a Lamchop’s Kurt Wagner collaboration "Give It", first released last autumn as a teaser single. Punk fused guitar riffs on "Fellow Cutie" follow through to "Enjoy The Ride" featuring Kissing The Pink, a Crazy P style chilled out track with down tempo oldskool beats and delicate vocal harmonies.

Stepping it up for "Don’t Make Me Wait" featuring Bernard Fowler, before one of stand-out album tunes, Rob Harvey (The Music) on "Kill 100", released to notable acclaim in August.

Some úber melodic funk kicks behind Kissing The Pink’s vocal on "Light My Soul". Before the more sobering sounds of "The Answer" and "Lastman" (again both Kissing The Pink collaborations), reach towards the more traditional techy side.

Experience its myriad delights in a whole new way in the coming months: for the first time ever, 13-odd years since their inception, X-Press 2 are about to play live. Expect inventive musicianship, glorious vocal turns and turntablist magic galore from these three decks-machines and friends. See them at Lovebox Weekeder, The Big Chill and beyond…