Corduroy - Return of the Fabric Four (2018)

Corduroy arrived on the Acid Jazz scene in early 1992. Self-styled as the Fabric Four, they cut a striking presence with their soundtrack for the beatific generation. Their first new album in 18 years, aptly titled Return Of The Fabric Four, takes the group back to their Acid Jazz source with 12 tracks that score that archetypal 60's spy film filled with split screens and montages, car chases and secret agents. Interspersed with jazz passages, mood mosaics and a samba, it reminds us just how much Corduroy were ahead of the curve. Like all the best [imaginary] soundtracks, Return Of The Fabric Four mixes nostalgia with originality in equal parts. Vast in aspiration and musical scope, this is no genre exercise: the joy, passion and commitment in its delivery is palpable.