There was a dead letter drop. A discreet clue. We had the package. Taking all appropriate precautions the package was securely transferred secretly to the offsite Rock Regen facility.
We had the package. Dare we open it?
Agent Timo Peach had provided us with the latest plans from Momo:HQ.
Opening with a play on words “Sauce Code” the intro is soon over making way for the “Mighty Anonymity”, a deeply infused Electro track with some nice relaxed bass beat and a funky rhythm. This has all the hallmarks of the Momo sound, and gently paves the way for the album.
Almost on every basis the tracks are interspersed with little vignettes like ‘Voice Recognition’ providing a hilarious interlude that starts as a hint to a secret meeting. It shows off the Momo way of playing with words and setting incorrect expectations. This all paves the way for the rather addictive ‘Undo’…
Throughout the whole album is a dark vein, the illusion that all is not what it seems. This is deftly constructed through the many layers of sound; the word play, and potentially surreal world created for the listener. The dark vein? Momo have constructed a “Spy come Thriller” world for the album, for this particular listener it falls somewhere between 007 and Sterling Archer – it’s a humorous place, if not a little “odd”!
For “Check Out” there is that big band horns section feel; as the tracks protagonist with diamonds, are whisked on a tour of the city and not by a taxi driver as it turns out!
“Lightbulb Swinging” is a more laidback track, with what feels like a slight nod to Kraftwerk in a couple of places, and an intro that immediately made me think of Trio, but only just! Which blends interestingly the images of a spy being captured, but also concerned about their good side; but mainly seems to be about dancing with someone! I am not sure how they manage to conjure up so many images and interpretations and yet getting them to flow so easily!
“Conspiracy” is the pinnacle of the Espionage theme, or should that be espionage and acting..?
“A Prelude To…” is the intro to what might be considered the opus of Thespionage. Providing the backdrop for the story of a Doctor perhaps this albums “The Circus Of Doctor NEMo” is a fun number, as it takes an interesting turn about halfway through – Timo politely asks “be a love and break it down”, and the track immediately goes from its Funky sound to a harder hitting Electro track; with the unexpected bass drop and tempo shift, but is soon offset with a violin. Whilst you are reeling from this change it soon changes to just a piano and vocals, and then back to its Jazz/Funk origins. All the while these shifts in sounds, styles (the 20’s meets Tim Burton, whilst partaking in an Electro/Pop/Funk groove), and tempo’s all fit perfectly with the Momo:Tempo approach to breaking your perceptions into little bits, and then shaking them up in a cocktail mixer! These two tracks amount to a perfectly encapsulated 8 minute play.
As the album draws to a close there is “All The Love Could Be”, which is simply a Summery love song. Annoyingly catchy, one that I could imagine hitting the dance floors across Bournemouth on those Funk and Jazz nights down the Pier. It shows that these guys can craft a song that is dependent on the humour or other trickery, and just goes to re-enforce the talent on display here.
Closing off proceedings is “Conspiracy:Declassified”; an interesting track that takes on a more Rock guitar-driven vibe, but still possesses Momo at its core with an Electro backdrop, orchestral vibe and funky rhythm. Watching Momo videos on YouTube you know that there is always more going on than meets the eye, and you just know that the frontman Timo is juggling multiple ideas simultaneously in the Momo Universe. And while having seen Momo live, all of this would not be possible without the amazing talents that make up the Electro Pops Orchestra.
A large part of the Momo:Tempo culture is sophistication and humour. This is all professionally and cleverly packaged in a Funky/Jazz package that is just fun. From the underlying songwriting all the way through to the production values it does not matter what the subject is: the humour, wordplay and sophistication will be there.
This is bound to be a underground cult hit…shame the MP3s self destructed after playing…hopefully our Misson was a success.
Track Listing
Sauce Code
Mighty Anonymity
Spook Flight To Malibu
A Chopper, A Copper, And A Motorcade…
Voice Recognition
Undo
Check Out
Drugstore Drop
Lightbulb Swinging
Conspiracy
A Prelude To…
The Circus Of Doctor NEMo
The Anatomy Of Play
Nudge
No Extras
Our Man In Crete
All That Love Could Be
Desire Lines
Conspiracy:Declassified
Links
http://www.momotempo.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/momotempo
Words and Photo By Jon.
