If the term “world music” has always been something that you have never really understood…don’t worry it is pretty meaningless…then Liar’s Notebook is exactly for you. Not that there is any one easy and catch all definition which works for such a broad term but a Neo-soul outfit drawn from musicians from both Southern India and California, who blend jazz and asian grooves, island vibes and traditional soul moves into their sound has to be representative of where that genre is today.
The more expected, sun-soaked vibes of tracks like Liar Liar, a collection of sweet and sassy, modern jazz-soul sonics, is balanced by the soft soundbite that is Lima, which sounds like a blend of guitar improv and found sounds and Bird is a suitably soaring slice of gorgeousness. And rounding things off, Remember seems to gather all of the aforementioned aspects and styles into its elaborate yet spacious folds.
Who really knows what the term world music means, it contains music as different and disparate as the people who make it, and the cultures and backgrounds that they are inspired by and spring from. But if Lace is indeed an example of where that genre is in the modern musical world, consider me a convert to the genre.
