“Africans In the Snow” is the fifth full-length solo album from the truly legendary bassist T.M Stevens. It’s a fourteen-track album, which ably demonstrates Stevens’s mastery of combining his “heavy metal funk” brand of rock with Afro percussion and reggae.

On first listen this album had an immediate effect on me. From start to finish this album is fun, full of good vibes, attitude and left with me with a big grin on my face. It is so damn groovy one can’t help but nod your head and find yourself moving parts of your body that have never moved for ages (too much information).

The album opens with a wonderful “sunny” slice of Afro style music. Deep and warm tribal vocals lead into the funky frenzy of “What For”. This track is a deep and robust attitude laden groove on which T.M introduces himself to the listener. A veritable musical calling card.

“Up” has a gorgeous groove, which seems to stagger from left to right. It’s super tight and there are some fabulous bass and guitar duel lines. This song will appeal to fans of Kings-X thanks to its melodic chorus. T.M slaps and pops on his bass like a man possessed. You will believe a bass can fly.

“Fight, Fight, Fight” is a deep down and dirty groove. Stevens’s vocals are warm and rich and he sounds like a preacher delivering and angst-ridden sermon. Again this song is very reminiscent of Kings-X.The song is a rallying cry to the masses and the message is clear “don’t let anyone grind you down”. The song has attitude and heart and a very big soul and funks and grooves like there is no tomorrow.

“Gotta Get My Move On” features special guest Nuno Bettencourt on guitar who puts in a finger twisting guitar solo. The song has a great rapping style vocal delivery and has a great in your face vibe. T.M puts in a fabulous bass solo which is full of fire and complements Nuno’s speedy workout.

“Afro Soul” is a wonderfully melodic and smooth track, which at times reminded me of Grace Jones “Slave To the Rhythm”. Everything sounds fresh and full of life and there is a real feel good vibe going on.

“Tell Me The Truth” brings the Afro influence right to the fore. The hard rock funk is left behind for a moment and instead we are given a gorgeous, melodic and wonderfully optimistic song. The harmonies are lush and this song just sets you up for the day nicely.

“Wake Up For” is a super cool laid back funky number, which moves along with a super confident feel. It is almost retro with its seventies keyboard stabs and sent me back to those school disco days.

“Rock So Hard” is a deep number, which has bass and drums gluing the whole thing together. It is almost tribal in its delivery. It didn’t grab me and hold me like previous tracks on the album had.

“Mama Said” is a great funky track, which just makes you want to gyrate, and the chorus is positively infectious and very melodic.

“We Will Never Do That” sees us back in heavy metal funk land. It’s a crushing number, which stomps all over the listener. At times this track brought to mind the great band “Living Colour” in the way it surges and flows.

“Weird G” begins with some frenetic drumming and leads into an unsettling groove. T.M sings his heart out and shows to great effect his warm and sincere vocal style to great effect. A very cool guitar solo lifts this song up towards the end.

“Africans In the Snow” has a tempo which could be described as a crawl when compared to the rest of the album. This song has a gentle menace to it and a guitar line that had me thinking of Led Zeppelins dazed and Confused.

“Ayeahi” is an intriguing and evocative track with T.M showing off his smooth funk playing to the max. It is very melodic and lush harmonies drip all over this number. It conjures up the big open spaces of the African plains and has a message of hope at its heart.

“Our Roots” sees T.M pressing the reggae button and putting in a soulful vocal delivery.

“Africans In the Snow” is another great record form T.M Stevens who shows he is his own man when it comes to this genre. The album is fun and will have music lovers grooving along in no time. It doesn’t matter if you are in to blues; metal, funk or reggae T.M manages to mix it all up in a way that will appeal to the masses. Here is an album you can dip into when you need a lift. It does lose a bit of momentum towards the end but overall this will sate the appetite of those who like their rock funky with a bit of bite.

Let us know your views on Africans In The Snow

Track Listing

What
Up
Fight Fight Fight
Gotta Get My Move On
Afro Soul
Tell Me The Truth
Wake Up
Why We Rock So Hard
Mama Said
We Will Never Do That Again
Weird G
Africans In The Snow
Ayeahi
Why We Rock So Hard (Remix)