The origins of SugaRush Beat Company are quite unusual. The band was formed in 2005, when American neo-soul man Rahsaan Patterson met Jarrad “Jaz” Rogers during an Australian tour – when they began working on ideas together, they enlisted Danish singer Ida Corr to the group and the somewhat excessively-named SugaRush Beat Company was born – this self-titled album represents the first full-length release of the band’s music, which is a combination of retro soul, electro, and pop… roughly speaking.

The band are fortunate to have two talented singers on board, and across these 13 songs they are determined to make the most of them, incorporating a number of vocal styles, from Corr’s chanting on “They Said I Said” to soulful yearning on “Oh Lord (Take Me Back)”. The songs are varied too – “Oh Lord” and “L-O-V-E” are closest to conventional soul, whilst is “Love Breed” is a bit of a gem in the form of a club-friendly stormer. Elsewhere, “Jesus Come Near” intriguingly uses elements from “The Royal Scam”, a 1976 song by jazz rockers Steely Dan, but is also hampered by some annoying processed voices. Also frustrating is opener “Intro / Walking A Way”, which is an ill-concieved and poorly executed intro track which comes off as a chaotic, uncontrolled sound collage which doesn’t really go anywhere, let alone successfully introducing the album.

Closer “The End” incorporates some almost “Good Night”-esque strings along with ponderous bass notes and subdued, processed backing vocals and subtle, slow drums. At the end, (the end of “The End”, if you will) there’s a lovely, thoughtful spoken word section over the fadeout, which must be one of the album’s highlights. “And in the end, there will be no losing and no winning. And in the end, all that will be left is… the beginning.”

Hampered by its dodgy intro and a sense of sameyness that eventually creeps in, SugaRush Beat Company is far from an essential or perfect album. Nevertheless, taking into account songs like “Love Breed”, “Sugarush” and “L-O-V-E”, this is an intriguing take on modern soul stylings as well as an eclectic, if flawed, voyage into other genre territory.
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SugaRush Beat Company on MySpace