dego: love was never your goal
Francisco Espregueira
It’s always a pleasure to hear dego’s music. His latest album, released by his own 2000Black imprint, is a focused, strip down affair that benefits greatly from extensive lead vocals courtesy of his latest collaborator, rising star Samii. Love Was Never Your Goal carries a special, and easily identifiable, smoothness. Dego’s, of course. A few other 2000 Black regulars (Matt Lord, Mr Mensah and Kaidi Tatham) also lend a hand here and there, adding extra layers of warming, jazz-funk influenced musicality to a set rooted in broken beat, modern soul and the jazzier end of the dancefloor spectrum.
Highlights fill the album from A to Z. From the acid-flecked, deep broken soul number “En Route”, the classic Kaidi and Dego style jazz-funk business “Proxima Centauri”, the sun-soaked brilliance of “Warp 7” and the neo-boogie excellence of “Don't Stall”. Faster or slower, we hear a producer very comfortable in his skin, but always ready to try a different approach or a different sound. Available on vinyl, Love Was Never Your Goal is another sublime addition to dego’s impressive discography.
It is said, study, work hard and life shall reward.
Be good unto others and life will be kind to you.
The question is, can you break free from the external constraints of control or do you negotiate your release.
Should one endure the seemingly eternal struggle, wielding equality as a spearhead of revolution ? Or do you count your loses and move on to a new world where the lessons of the past are acknowledged ?
A fresh start without the weight of having to shield your liberty.
A place where all past wrongs can be made right and the tentacles of evil can not reach.
A world where legacy can be held in esteem.