Dinner Party – Enigmatic Society

Sometimes music just takes your breath away. Listening back to ‘Enigmatic Society’ – the first new project from all-star ensemble Dinner Party in over a year – there are aspects that go beyond words, that exist out-with descriptors. Music of pure feeling, their improvisatory touch is nonetheless rooted in hip-hop culture, a pan-genre mosaic that seems to be fuelled entirely by emotion.

Suitably, there are some big names in charge here. Kamasi Washington, for one. Seminal American composer Robert Glasper, another. With Terrace Martin and 9^th Wonder completing the triptych, you’re left to wonder what such talents, such true Avengers Assemble of the free music realm could possibly conjure.

‘Answered Prayer’ is a profound, spiritual opener. ‘Breathe’ switches it up again, its deft R&B soaked songwriting recalling Masego’s traphousejazz formula, but with a twist. ‘Insane’ taps into 80s Miami with its slick appeal, while ‘Watts Renaissance’ goes deep, the beat surging beneath the Earth’s crust to anchor those lush saxophone lines.

‘For Granted’ snaps you back to life, and the synth lines are pure West Coast – from Dre to FlyLo and beyond, it sits in a formidable lineage. ‘Secure’ has a heady, psychedelic feel, while the warped piano segments feel like an old 78 playing out of time. ‘Can’t Go’ interpolates a vintage Hall & Oates moment, while the elastic bass on ‘The Lower East Side’ pieces together a wild jazz jam that flirts with afrobeat levels of intensity.

Closing with the gorgeous ‘Love Love’, this is a project that pays for repeated listens. It’s compact – only 25 minutes – yet incredibly detailed, while the array of features stretches from Phoelix to Arin Ray. Finessed and unified, ‘Enigmatic Society’ is magnificent, a micro-masterpiece that refuses to be pigeonholed. Free-thinking yet direct, it’s a salute to collaborative art, and the geniuses behind it.

8/10

Words: Robin Murray