Tru Thoughts have always been an intriguing label and one of the UK’s best and bravest independents. Alongside their long term big hitters Bonobo and Quantic (and Will Holland’s many other projects in Colombia and NYC), the Brighton label has been the home of New Orleans’ premier street brass outfit Hot 8 Brass Band, soul queen Alice Russell, grime pioneers like Flowdan and many others in the worlds of soul, hip hop, reggae and tropical to harder punching club music from Zed Bias and Brazil’s Drumagick. A tru(e) hub of creativity. With over 200 releases to their name, Tru Thoughts like to put together essential catch-up compilations, the Shapes series of releases is always worth grabbing and they also produce a series of cover versions recorded by the label’s artists, aptly and simply titled ‘Covers’. Some of these tracks have never seen the light of day, others have been front and centre. Welcome to ‘Covers 3’.

Romeo Sandri’s sUb_modU project released ‘Pidgin Synths’ on Tru Thoughts this year and it automatically became one of my favourite EP’s of the year with his futuristic synth-heavy interpretative vision of the classic 70s afrobeat sound. Two of the tracks on this compelling four tracker were Fela Kuti standards and if you only buy the vinyl of ‘Covers 3’ for one reason, it’s to own his version of ‘Water No Get Enemy’ on wax.

Compiled by DJ, co-founder and head of A&R Robert Luis, the cream coloured vinyl contains 7 tracks and the digital has 18 (buying the vinyl automatically gets you the digital). An initial standout for me has been the Magic Drum Orchestra remix of Animanz’s already cooking version of the Thundercat modern classic ‘Them Changes’. Hard live sounding carnival drums, cone-busting bass tones and a truck full of attitude make this a guaranteed dancefloor monster (when they return!).

With music from Quantic, The Seshen, Hot 8 Brass Band, J-Felix, Mark de Clive-Lowe (see above) and loads more all present and correct, this is an engaging selection of well known and not so well known songs deconstructed and rebuilt through a new prism. Who doesn’t love a great cover version? Lost your crowd? Try this. BOOM!

Released 6th November 2020.

PRE-ORDER: https://tru-thoughts.bandcamp.com/album/tru-thoughts-covers-3