Driven by Sonic Obsession

While primarily known for their disco funk hits, Jamiroquai is actually one of the more versatile bands of the pop music landscape of the last few decades. No album proves this better than their sophomore record ‘The Return Of The Space Cowboy’. Sure, there is always a jazzy funk fundament, but what they choose to put on top of that varies wildly, resulting in their most accomplished and adventurous album thus far. Despite its experimental nature, the album is surprisingly consistent. Every song has a solid groove and an irresistible swing. Most of them have very strong choruses as well.

In addition, the album has a very pleasant live feel. Jamiroquai would experiment with electronic rhythms to varying degrees of success, but ‘The Return Of The Space Cowboy’ is full of lengthy jams, which transforms even the simplest vamp into a dance classic. This is easily what the band is best at and with all the musicians having different musical backgrounds, a myriad of influences is brought to the fore; not just funk and jazz, but also pop, hints of rock and the odd Carribean touch. As a result of that, every song on ‘The Return Of The Space Cowboy’ sounds different and has an identity of its own.

Though the album starts of on a high note with the remarkably complex, seventies Miles Davis-ish nine minute vamp of ‘Just Another Story’, the best material can all be found around the middle of the album. With its propulsive beat, ‘The Kids’ is likely the most aggressive song Jamiroquai ever recorded, ‘Mr. Moon’ is a delicious slab of late seventies funk and the soulful, socially counscious ‘Manifest Destiny’ is the brightest hidden jam in the band’s discography. ‘Scam’, while mainly super funky, has a bit of a psychedelic soul vibe, a genre that really isn’t practiced as much as it should be.

Of course, the album is not without its weird moments. The didgeridoo-lead instrumental ‘Journey To Arnhem’ couldn’t really be on any other artist’s album, but as a whole, ‘The Return Of The Space Cowboy’ is an album full of smooth, streamlined grooves. Smooth does not necessarily mean soft though. Sure, there are soft moments, such as the quiet storm-like ‘Morning Glory’ and the latin jazz-inspired ‘Stillness In Time’, but sometimes it’s just a matter of polishing up the raw potential of the band, such as the delightful closer ‘Space Cowboy’.

Anyone looking for proof that Jamiroquai is more than just the native American headgear and Stevie Wonder-inspired voice of frontman Jay Kay should look no further than ‘The Return Of The Space Cowboy’. The record is full of excellent interaction between the other band members, with especially bassist Stuart Zender and (at the time) new drummer Derrick McKenzie shining brightly. Jamiroquai would carry on to make singles that were even better than the songs here (‘Deeper Underground’, ‘Runaway’, ‘Cosmic Girl’), but they have yet to make an album full of performances as inspired as on this one. ‘Rock Dust Light Star’ came close, but ‘The Return Of The Space Cowboy’ still stands as a unique entry in Jamiroquai’s discography.

Recommended tracks: ‘Manifest Destiny’, ‘The Kids’, ‘Just Another Story’