For a middle-aged geezer like me, the music made by ensemble (I would describe them as a band but a band is generally made up of musicians armed with an instrument, The Moods are more like ‘music makers’ incorporating producers and poets, as well as musicians) seems miles from the stuff I have in my stereo. Nine people make up The Moods and having this amount of creative input means no shortage of ideas but the possibility of ‘too many cooks’ can come into play.
Happily, this is not the case, the music created for ‘Strong’ is well directed and has facets of urban r&b, dance music, rap and a nicely pitched vocal for the chorus. Set against a rhythm pattern that, in my day (God that does make me sound old) would have been employed by someone like Faithless. It’s busy, frantic but is surrounded by other, well planned, pieces that bring the song to a coherent whole.
The message is pretty clear, keep going, keep working and take the setbacks as hurdles to overcome rather than a wall to cease progress.
The song also has two remixes (including an underground rave/drum ‘n bass mix) as well as an acoustic version and a live version when the group performed at the MEN arena in Manchester.
Beware, after listening to all five tracks in a row, you’ll be singing the chorus for hours.
