Disastro has to be the most misleading misnomer of the year: Sonny J's debut is messy with styles, overcrowded with samples and almost overbalances with the respect it pays to different genres, times and places. Yet it never approaches even the outskirts of disaster. The album takes a bucket of ideas and shakes them up in a ragbag of influences. What comes out is as sweet and surprising as a birthday cake.
There's more to this collection though, than just a collection of warmed-over riffs and recycled vocals; Sorrow could easily be the lead track from a Chris Martin solo project, and it works perfectly as a standalone island of high quality, old-school music for musicians.
If you've ever worshipped at the temple of DJ Shadow or bowed before Beck, you'll find more than enough eclecticism here to whet your aural appetite. If you remember the early days of Big Beat, when the likes of Fatboy Slim and Bentley Rhythm Ace were at their most inspired, you'll adore the quirky blending of arcade-game sound effects, heavy metal guitar and francophone girlie-pop which kicks off the set.
And if you can remember back to the time of the Banana Splits TV show, during the golden age of Detroit pop at Hitsville USA, you'll recognise the skills employed on Can’t Stop Moving. It's surely no coincidence that master label EMI have released this gorgeous piece of work on old the $tateside imprint, one time home to Motown's output in the UK.
This is that rarest of musical creatures; a debut album full of promise.
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