A 'Special' Encore

Back in 1979, the ‘Two Tone’ revolution was for me, a great time for music. At the time I was never really into the political lyrics, it was all about the rhythms, the bass and the drums. Amongst this movement The Specials were almost godlike. So now move forward to 2019 and we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the formation of The Specials and the legendary Two-Tone label with the release of ‘Encore’.

‘Encore’ is The Specials first new music for 37 years. The ten track album was produced by Specials’ founding members Lynval Golding, Terry Hall, and Horace Panter alongside Danish producer Torp Larsen. It’s actually the first time Golding, Hall and Panter have recorded any new material together since the band’s legendary 1981 number one, Ghost Town.

Notable as missing from the line-up is the original band leader Jerry Dammers. I understand from a recent Mojo magazine article that he attempted and failed to legally prevent the band from releasing new music, believing that it would smear The Specials’ legacy.

Well let me say Encore enhances rather than smears the bands legacy. I loved the old-school Specials  but this is not that same up-beat punky ska they used to produce, this sounds completely different. This is how a band should mature. It’s still very relevant to today without being stale in its sound. Like I say, it doesn't really sound like The Specials of the 80's, but then I wasn't expecting it to, after all we’re not in 1980 anymore! It is quite different, but the sound is still unmistakably The Specials.

With its anti-racism lyrics, stuff about modern day society, social media etc, these are thoughtful songs about modern problems, albeit the same old problems. The songs on here have meaning. There’s funk, ska, reggae and some great piano and horn parts. Indeed some of it is actually a bit Clash-like. 

If you are looking for just an old-school ska album then this is not for you, go dig out The Beat’s recent new album if that’s what you want. ‘Encore’ is starkly relevant to 2019, and this is what it should be, not a nostalgic tribute to 2-Tone.

The Tracks
The album opens with a disco-style cover of The Equals’ ‘Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys’. It makes me want to stick on a Crombie, stone parallels and Royal brogues and go strutting down the road. In reality it’s actually one of the albums weaker songs, maybe it would have benefited from a more explosive opening?

‘Vote For Me’ largely picks up where ‘Ghost Town’ left us back in 1981. It's quite depressing to see how far Britain hasn't come since then, what with our politically and economically divided society. It all goes to prove The Specials are just as relevant today as they were back then. The lyric "You're all so drunk with money and power, inside your ivory tower, teaching us not to be smart", hits the nail firmly into today’s self-seeking politicians heads. The cover of the Fun Boy Three’s ‘The Lunatics Have Taken over the Asylum’ which follows ‘Vote For Me’ goes down a similar road and is perhaps a little too self-referencing, but in these Brexit times you can understand why they included it.

To me ‘Breaking Point’ sounds like a Tom Waites tune. Everything about it implies that he must have been a very strong influence. Another cover that is really well reworked is the old Valentines track, ‘Gun Fever’ now remade as ‘Blam Blam Fever’.

Next up is ‘The Ten Commandments’, a song that expresses the female experience in 2019. Now this track is loosely based on a very sexist Prince Buster tune. What The Specials have done though is to spin the lyrics round to mean the opposite of the original. With some biting and fearless lyrics, there’s a very strong influence coming in from both women’s rights movement and in particular the 2018, #metoo stirring. Clever move too that Saffiyah Khan performs the vocal duties on this track. For those who don’t know her, Saffiyah Khan was the girl wearing The Specials T-shirt that faced off the EDL in Birmingham with a big smile on her face.

The final track, ‘We Sell Hope’ is very close to the original Specials work. It hits their emotional sweet-spot, doom-laden whilst anthemic at the same time.  Its a solemn reggae ballad, that never actually feels like it’s trying too hard to recapture old glories. Terry Halls sings “do what you need to do without making others suffer”, indirectly acknowledging the best you can do in a world run by madmen is to be the common sense we all want to see.

Is It Worth It?
I must admit that on first listen I wasn’t too sure, but with each listen it has improved, and I would say definitely do not write it off, it’s worth it. Encore has ultimately proved my doubts well and truly wrong. The album is a brilliant, concise, cutting social commentary coalesced with some excellent music.

To complement it, if you do want some old Specials, the "Greatest Hits Live" second disc is a very enjoyable bonus and may act as a small compensation for those buying this album for simply nostalgic reasons.

I know some people will absolutely hate ‘Encore’, but I say keep an open mind. if you’re open to the fact that it's not completely the original line up and that over the years they were always going to evolve and have a slightly different sound to what you remember then you'll enjoy the album for what it is - without harking back to the 80's!

Overall it's an uplifting, modern, extremely dark and moody album. Remove yourself from who is and is not in the band and listen to a mature sound and a very well engineered album. Admittedly, ‘Encore’ could equally be a Fun Boy Three album as a Specials album and would it have been any better if Jerry Dammers had been involved? I’m not sure!