Auckland jazz trio Husband Material have their debut album coming out later this year and prior to that they have released this single to give us a taste of what is to come. Although the three of them all play multiple instruments, this sounds very much like a live recording with minor overdubs, which does somewhat restrict that aspect, so we have Ayden Geerligs (bass, vocals) Levi de Lisle (drums) and Noah Chitty (piano, keyboards). This is jazz which in many ways is pre-Golden Age, back when everything was taken slowly with no need to rush everywhere. It is music which demands to be played on headphones late at night, not during the day as background music, but instead when one has the opportunity to relax into it.
Ayden’s vocals slide around the note, giving their sound a certain relaxed style which is very pleasant indeed and the result alongside the piano-led accompaniment and gentle rhythm section definitely works. But, and it was fairly obvious there was one coming, no matter how good the song is I firmly believe it needs an ending and just fading it out is never the right approach. This has been released as a single, and I presume they are gigging, so therefore they are going to play it and do they expect the live engineer to just drop the volume? That does somewhat spoil what is a very pleasant jazz number with just a hint of blues, but I am still looking forward to hearing the album.
Rating: 6/10
