Dâm-Funk – Invite the Light

Funk’s been outlawed. No one’s quite sure how it went down – some blame Mark Ronson – but fear not; L.A.’s grooviest keytar shaman Dâm-Funk is here to save the day, one hand clap at a time. It’s not just a genre at stake; for Damon Riddick, funk is a state of being, a semi-spiritual lifeline of positive energy for navigating the daily grind. By the final chorus of radiant lead single We Continue, you’ll be convinced too.

There’s loose narrative to the album, which at its peak finds our hero in a blistering car chase scored by old-school Sega sound effects, but the overriding takeaway is good vibes and lots of them. Be it the sparkling synth lines and soulful harmonies of its rousing second side or the nimble fingered turn from bass maestro Flea on early standout Floating on Air, Invite the Light makes the sun that bit warmer and the day bit brighter. [Andrew Gordon]