THE VOICE IN SOUND: HORACE ANDY CLASSICS GET A EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE
Horace Andy’s voice is not one you easily forget. Whether you stumbled upon it through crackling 1970s reggae singles or the haunted grandeur of Massive Attack’s Mezzanine, that slow-motion falsetto burrows straight into your bones. Now, Germany’s Echo Beach label has done something wonderfully generous with The Voice In Sound, gathering a constellation of friends to reimagine Andy’s most treasured songs.
The Voice In Sound is versioning as devotion. Emerging from one of reggae’s oldest traditions, and Hamburg’s Echo Beach has serious form here. Twenty-five years ago, the label sparked a sound system sensation across Europe with Black Star Liner’s remix of Do You Love My Music. This vibrant revival carries that same generous spirit.
Andy Horace’s voice has deepened with age, but it has lost nothing. It anchors every track, with a stellar cast of European talent. Bristol’s Rob Smith (RSD) brings his Smith & Mighty pedigree to impressive effect.
From Munich, Captain Yossarian and aDubta deliver solid versions, weaving delay warps and perforated dub textures through the iconic Roland RE-201 analogue tape delay and spring reverb unit.
THIS IS VERSIONING AS DEVOTION
The Hanover-based reggae institution and dub pioneers, Trance Vision Steppers, bring a crisp authority to Skylarking, and Birmingham’s Different Drummer Soundsystem keeps things fresh and gloriously danceable.
Having made their name dubbing classic Ramones tracks, Cologne’s Dubmones bring that same irreverent creativity to a high-class Wicked Babylon. Fenin’s hypnotic take on Bad Man drifts somewhere between the extremes of Berlin’s city nightlife, from the uncompromising pulse of Berghain to the breezy cool of a Yaam bar.
Every contributor brings their own sonic world, and yet every version is united by a profound respect for one of reggae’s most extraordinary voices. The Voice In Sound ensures it endures.
THE VOICE IN SOUND DIGITAL TRACKLIST
01. Wicked Babylon Must Go Down ft Dubmones
02. Money Money ft aDUBta
03. Skylarking ft Captain Yossarian
04. She Say ft Der Transformer
05. It´s A Clash ft Dubmatix
06. Ital Vital ft Different Drummer
07. Cuss Cuss ft Rob Smith aka RSD
08. Money Money ft Lee Groves
09. Skylarking ft Trance Vision Steppers
10. Bad Man ft Fenin, Million Teeth
11. Youth Of Today ft Kaleidoscope
12. Skylarking ft Noiseshaper
13. Do You Love My Music ft Black Star Liner
14. Wicked Babylond Must Go Down ft Umberto Echo, Dub Spencer & Trance Hill
15. Money Money ft Dreadzone
16. Skylarking ft Oliver Frost, Eva Be
17. Money / Can´t Buy Love ft BBXO, Musa Okwonga
ABOUT HORACE ANDY
Few voices in reggae history match the melancholic falsetto of Horace Andy. Forged at the iconic Studio One in 1970, his signature sound yielded instant classics like Skylarking and Mr Bassie.
His visionary output helped shape the emerging dancehall movement before Massive Attack discovered him in the 1990s. The only vocalist to feature on all their major albums, Andy’s haunting voice remains one of reggae’s most extraordinary and enduring instruments.
