The Rayvelles return with a new 45 and find the overlap between their more cinematic sounds and lowrider soul. On aptly-named B-side Heavy Hearts the vocals of Marietta Smith take on a yearning and almost Beth Gibbons/ Portishead likeness in a cut that is practically begging to be sampled by Dr Dre. Why aptly-named? Because A-side Smoke Show (an original Rayvelles cut of course) was flagged for a copyright reasons earlier in the year and pulled from all streamers with no respite so far, despite the band’s best efforts to get it reinstated. That notwithstanding, said A-side, also featuring Smith, is the perfect sound-track to a slow-mo video in which a lowered Chevy Impala is being driven around East L.A. at sunset by a plaid-shirted cholo. He’s got one arm on a chain-link steering wheel, the other round the shoulders of a regal-looking chola, tattooed knuckles lightly tapping along to the rhythm, the very picture of a relaxation. Even though he’s imagining creative ways of committing ultra-violence on various digital distribution executives.
(Out 5 October on Funk Night Records)
