7 DAYS OF FUNK

Snoop Dogg is a man of many guises. Dipping into reggae, country, RnB, EDM and ring-tone ready pop, there’s few profitable genres that have escaped his wrath over the last 10 years. Mercifully, this isn’t the return of Snoop Lion but the birth of Snoopzilla, who has teamed up with Dâm-Funk for this seductive concoction of electro boogie and G-funk that recalls times when cocaine was used to garnish cereal and bands descended onto the stage from the Millennium Falcon.

But the true hero of this record is Dâm-Funk, who masterfully restrains the wanton boogie assault that could’ve so easily have car-wrecked this LP, instead slickly glossing over the THC-laced Cadillac jams, allowing the record to cruise in second gear with an air of restrained panache. Hit Da Pavement sets the tone perfectly: the drums are bombastic and Snoop’s vocal delivery sound impossibly smooth. “Circle through time and space to reconnect the mothership” is the announcement, as Dâm-Funk bends the Roland synth pads, morphing into what is perhaps the strongest cut on the record, Let it Go, an offbeat electro workout that almost goes out of time, temporarily letting a wild, scale-heavy guitar solo pierce through the watertight production.

Yet while this record calls upon a decade defined by wanton indulgence as its principle influence, this thing itself is surprisingly restrained. Hell, even with the bonus track it creeps in at a mere 40 minutes. But having spent the duration of that time blissfully gliding through the subconscious of two commanders expertly drilled in beat-driven funk, you can consider yourself satisfied.

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Words: Alex Hall