Always

The fact the Frightnrs have released a second album with their original lineup is a truly remarkable achievement given the groups history. Frightnrs lead singer and guitarist Dan Klein lost his life to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) a few months before the release of their 2016 debut album Nothing More to Say, and while he made it clear to his bandmates that he wanted the group to continue, replacing Kleins high, clear, soulful voice, a perfect instrument for the vintage rocksteady and early reggae sounds that are the bands hallmark, would be a daunting task. As it happens, on 2022s Always the group has managed to make a new album with Klein even if he isnt available in the flesh. Surviving Frightnrs Chuck Patel on keyboards, Preet Patel on bass, and Rich Terrana on drums worked with their producer Victor Axelrod to take vocals Klein recorded in rehearsals and session outtakes and build a new album around them, and Always is the product of their experiment. Knowing the cut-and-paste nature of its production, Always sounds remarkably organic, and if Kleins vocals were thought to be throwaways at the time, the bittersweet pleading he brings to these performances is more than worthy of preservation. And the instrumentalists evocation of the rich, musty sound of ancient rocksteady singles is uncanny, especially the subsonic low end of Preet Patels bass and his brother Chucks vintage keyboards. Always does stand apart from Nothing More to Say in terms of the production; Victor Axelrod has given these tracks a far stronger dub influence (even including version mixes of "Profilin" and "30-56" as part of the LPs lineup), and the deeper sense of space in the mix and the bursts of dub-wise sound effects make it a different listening experience compared to the debut. (A few of the tracks also appear to have been built with drum machines rather than organic percussion, though it generally works in context). All that said, Always shows this band had tremendous talent and a passionate commitment to the music they loved, and Dan Klein was a singer who deserves to be remembered. They have every reason in the world to celebrate what they could generate in the studio, and thats what makes Always worth your time. ~ Mark Deming