Suspension of disbelief is the name of the rock'n'roll game. Those increasingly rare moments when you allow yourself to be totally taken in and uplifted by a song and then you just can't get it out of your head. Moments of bliss, where you say to yourself, as you listen along "shit, that's a nice song". Moments that seem to come along less and less frequently as your record collection grows….
Well I'm pleased to say that it happened with "Old Fashioned" by Me One. I already had a song by this young artist on a freebie cd sold with a French rock magazine, but it wasn't until I saw, by chance, the video of "Old Fashioned" on telly that I said to myself: I'VE GOTTA HAVE THAT ALBUM.
So, how to describe this incredible blend of vocal and musical styles?

I'll jump in at the deep-end, and use the BEACH BOYS approach.

This album, made by a Londoner of Jamaican origin, is an incredible mixture of sounds. Vocal harmonies, funk, soul, pop, ragga, rap, hip-hop…you name it… It contains an unexpected cover version of Brian Wilson's famous "In my Room" (from 1963 Beach Boy's lp "Surfer Girl"). Unexpected, maybe, because the general "vibe" of this first MeOne release is generally a rap hip-hop one. However, there are several things that show a Wilsonesque influence in this young man's music. For one, the power of the intertwined vocals, the mellow harmonies that E.Martin (a.ka. MeOne) manages to create on this fine album. Then there's the fact that this guy is more or less a "one man band". He basically did it all himself. And that, I am told is the meaning of the name: "MeOne": Jamaican for "on my own" or "by my self". So it's this guy's vision and he's done it all himself. Then there's the melancholic, sad and longing vibe present on some of the songs which seems reminiscent of some of the best Brian Wilson odes. Of course, it's different, but there seems to be something there. An influence. For example on my personal favourite "Old Fashioned" (there are two different versions on the album, too) the singer is in a position similar to that of the protagonist in many of Brian's finest numbers. He's in love with a girl who's with a guy who treats her bad. The girl stays with this guy, cos' she's "old-fashioned" although the singer knows that the girl would be better off with him. He also knows that it's never gonna happen. I mean, I may be pushing it a bit here, but I reckoned this sounded like a classic Beach boys, Brian Wilson situation.

But to get back to "In my room". A kind of rappy/soully version of the Wilson classic. Is it a mere curiosity or a cover version with something to say? The song has several moments, and several vocal styles. My particular favourite is the kind of "ragga" break where the singer raps along in Jamaican English. In fact, what Martin does is takes the Wilson loneliness and melancholy and mixes it with other musical styles and traditions. This is what happens on old-fashioned too. There is sadness, loneliness, melancholy and fragile harmony in true Wilsonesque style but a whole Jamaican turn of phrase and generally happier or at least more mellow vibe as well. "Old-fashioned" is sad and resigned, but on the other hand almost bounces along. The end result is a very convincing one, this blending of sadness, vocal harmonies and a Jamaican, mellow almost "feel good" style (one of the last songs on the album, just before two alternate takes, is called "The feel good one" and it's genuinely uplifting). Personally, I'm greatly impressed by the rapping in Jamaican English. Old-fashioned, for example, under the appearance of a smoothly running pop song, has a rhythm of it's own. It has the rhythm, stress pattern and intonation of the Jamaican variety of English. I tried to sing along with the lyrics provided but I kept getting the stress patterns wrong. The impression given is one of great verbal dexterity.
I'm not going to go into a track-by-track breakdown. It's a great little album. Delving into various musical styles, it succeeds every time. Despite the variety, there is a unifying feel and tone, the mark of the artist: Me One a.k.a. E.Martin.
 

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