Something Special (Record Store Day 2020) vinyl

Earlier in the year, the Inn House Crew - a reggae supergroup featuring a wealth of legendary Jamaican players - provided the musical backing on vocalist Winston Ready's excellent Black Pearl album. Here they get a chance to showcase their undisputed musical skills under the watchful eye of producer Lewis Murtagh, on watch should be considered their debut album. It's a hugely entertaining affair that sees them embellish their usual reggae rhythms and basslines with everything from glistening jazz guitar solos and squelchy synthesizer lines, to samba-style acoustic guitars, calypso melodies and Ebo Taylor style solos. As a result, the album is surprisingly stylistically varied, but always rooted in reggae, roots and dub.