Having previously collaborated in 2017 Los Charly's Orchestra and Omar join forces again to breathe a new lease of life into a track that has nothing less than anthem status in contemporary black music. It's So was the song that set alight dancefloors on release in 2006, becoming a much-loved peak time number at legendary London venues such as Plastic People. Crowds let loose to the combination of Omar's strong voice and an Afro-Latin groove mixing Mark de Clive-Lowe's broken beat with the sound of classic Cuban big bands.
Now LCO, led by forward-thinking producers Jorge Montiel and Juan Laya have taken the original verse and chorus and carefully re-build a startling new musical context where Tropicalia, Soul & Boogie convey in a flawless trip.
This is the kind of sound that LCO have made their trademark over the years yet there is a distinct freshness in the way that Montiel and Laya have come up with this new production in order to create a driving percussive energy that reflects their dual heritage of Latin music and Disco.
Matheus Nova's steadily bouncing bass, Emeris Solis' tingling percussion and Xantone Blacq's piping hot synthesizer raise the temperature around Omar's vocal, which sounds as brilliantly controlled and commanding as it did at a time when dancing took place in public spaces rather than in the confines of a superstar's kitchen.
With lockdown set to ease in July and the prospect of pre-covid club life tentatively coming into view, It's So 2021 could be the perfect soundtrack to a summer that restores the sorely missed joie de vivre created by listening to music in the company of other human beings who are more than images on a computer screen. This is music made by real people for people who are real.
Credits: Vocals: Omar, Synth: Xantone Blacq, Bass: Matheus Nova, Guitar & Drums: Raphael Dephino, Trumpet & Trombone: Eickel Venegas, Percussion: Emeris Solis.
Produced by Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel.