Last week, the ever eclectic selector Jackmaster dropped his annual, highly-anticipated 2014 Mastermix. As expected, it is expertly crafted full of the years best known and under-the-radar favourites. For that tricky, yet crucial opening selection, Jack went for this one by MermaidS.
‘Night Walkin’ is a funked up take on Allen Toussaint’s seminal 1978 ’Night People’, interpreted several times including Robert Palmer’s smooth sax-heavy version of the same year. MermaidS get our vote though, turning its upbeat predecessors into a murky twilight track, with its keys creating a fog behind the smokey vocals. Cuts from the original percussion retain the groove, but the added layers give the track a fresh breath of life. It’s become much more than a highlight from 2014’s Mastermix for us, it’s a winter jam we can’t get enough of.
