Ah! Finally, some music to comfort the ears of the civilised. With the elimination of crudity but with the addition of their own wry take on conventionality, Scottish smooth jazzers Fat-Suit stretch their legs a little more with this, their fourth album, “Waifs & Strays”.
As one might expect of band that can dynamically grow past the baker’s dozen in size, there is nothing minor here with many of the songs on this album reaching up to the sky in their presentational scope. This no doubt works much to the delight of their intended audience as, with much in the way of instrumental virtuosity, Fat-Suit are able to provide a soundtrack to almost every event that matters in the life of the coffee shop cognoscenti and, talking of soundtracks, that very obvious musical talent would also easily allow this band to lay down the sounds to match the moving pictures anywhere between Scotland and Hollywood.
I might well have made “Waifs & Strays” sound like the kind of album that was designed to be forever in the background yet, despite their middle of the road direction, Fat-Suit have too much talent to stay in the safety of the finger snapping shadows. After all, there is no need to be a cappuccino when you are destined to be a double espresso.
Best song? The tranquil and elegant “Countryside Quiet”.
The verdict? Polished to a deep shine.