Cymande - Second Time Round

London's Cymande cooked up a groove entirely their own in the early seventies, and Second Time Round, their 1973 second album, proves the magic of their debut was no fluke.

Drawn from the city's thriving Afro-Caribbean community, with members whose roots ran to Guyana, Jamaica and Saint Vincent, the band mixed funk, soul, reggae, jazz, calypso and African rhythms into a sound they called nyah-rock. Discovered by producer John Schroeder, they made records that were spiritual, political and impossible to sit still to. Here the lyrics turn more pointed, and the playing stretches out with real confidence.

"Anthracite" rolls in on a hypnotic bassline and loose, conversational percussion, while "Willy's Headache" struts with a playful, jazzy swagger. "Genevieve" shifts the mood again, and "Crawshay" lets the band lock into a deep groove where the reeds and percussion weave around each other like old friends trading stories.

Cymande were underappreciated in their own time, but decades later crate-diggers and hip-hop producers turned them into cult heroes, and their records have been rediscovered by every new generation of funk fans.

This reissue is a fine way to hear exactly why, and a perfect partner for the band's debut on any funk and soul shelf.