"CoCo And The Butterfields will amaze you with their innovative "Fip Fok"
More often than not music genres cross path and when it happens new genres come to life. Yesterday I was at one of these junctions when, for the first time, I assisted at the CoCo And The Butterfields performance, live at The Finsbury Pub.
The band - made up by five elements but joined on stage by a trombone and a trumpets specially for the occasion – manage to converge several sounds and influences. They all brought their personal experiences (which span country, folk, hip hop, r&b) and gave life to a distinctive sound.
The band opened with a cover of Whitney Houston's 'I will always love you' sung by Dulcima's low and seductive voice; she was gradually joined by the rest of the instruments and when the song got to its zenith, it broke into a fast-pace folk ballad that had the unfortunate side effect of suffocating the female and male vocals.
'Astronaut' was a gentle and delicate love song that kicked in the second half, spiced up with a hint of jazz. 'Scarecrow' came next; the song opened with a raspy violin before bursting into a fast country ballad. The band also presented their latest single 'Warriors' a choral song that resounded epic with trombone and trumpets joining the performance, before closing with a cover of Florida's 'Low' revisited in a reggae key.
On the stage, the band was possessed by the rhythm of the music, dancing and thumping against the floor - the excited crowd couldn't help but clap along.
There is a rough quality about the sound of CoCo And The Butterfields; it's not easy to merge so many different styles, but this band seems to know how to make it work. There are few edges to refine and adjust, but it'll be interesting to watch more closely the evolution of this unique project.