{"id":343,"date":"2019-06-14T20:00:44","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T20:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2019\/2019\/06\/14\/hearing-aide-lettuce-elevate\/"},"modified":"2019-06-14T20:00:44","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T20:00:44","slug":"hearing-aide-lettuce-elevate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2019\/2019\/06\/14\/hearing-aide-lettuce-elevate\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearing Aide: Lettuce ‘Elevate’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brooklyn based funk outfit, Lettuce<\/a>, has been one of the pioneers in modern funk and jam music. The band\u2019s skill and taste, combined with their ability to blend historic and popular music aesthetics together puts them in the spotlight for aspiring bands. The spotlight is nothing new to Lettuce<\/a> and they are perpetually growing a global fan base. In fact, members Adam Deitch (drums\/percussion), Adam \u201cShmeeans\u201d Smirnoff (guitar), Erick “Jesus” Coomes (bass), Nigel Hall (keyboards\/vocals), Ryan Zoidis (saxophone) and Eric \u201cBenny\u201d Bloom (trumpet) have been doing this for 25 years, scoring Grammy\u2019s and working with some of the biggest forces in music such as Ahmir \u201cQuestlove\u201d Thompson<\/a>, Kanye West<\/a>, and Stevie Wonder<\/a>, to name a few. It\u2019s no wonder the glamor for more original Lettuce <\/a>music after a three-year wait was at an all time high. That time has come with their new album, Elevate<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The opening track, “Trapezoid” walks the listener in slowly, offering a close listen at the eccentric synth patches featured. Soon enough, a dark, unrelentingly \u2018dub\u2019 bass shatters the ground underneath the lush combination of squeaking synth, ambient whistles and palm-muted guitar. Deitch\u2019s live drums are performed with machine-like technical skill. That is, until the unmistakably<\/em> Lettuce horn lines kick in. Absolutely huge melodic phrases are composed with ease into tighter chorus hooks and are climaxed right before a colossal bass drop. While there is a chance that mashing up elements of trap, dub, funk, ambient and hip hop could go wrong, Lettuce navigates each mood change with confidence and expertise. The band\u2019s grasp of their song\u2019s structures at large is most easily seen by their ability to essentially re-write “Trapezoid” at the end of the album in “Trapezoid Dub.” There\u2019s much more music to go before that arc is completed, but it is something to keep in mind when considering the magnificent flow of the album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something Lettuce does as well as anything else is write true funk tunes. “Royal Highness” is a great example of this, with simple yet effective instrumentation coming together with well-organized rhythmic grooves blooming into a great dance tune. This instrumental leads in for the 60\u2019s Ethiopian funk song, “Krewe,” which features arguably the best sax solo on the album. This track has a nice blend of high-energy rhythm with darker but upbeat instrumentation; an intriguing juxtaposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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