Artist reinvention results in Bootsy-collaborating rubber-limbed funk
Who He?
Marcus Foster, an earnest guy in a T-shirt who’s been knocking around for a while, now rebadged as Seramic. He made some friends on his support slot with Jack Garratt last year and is set to make a whole lot more in 2017 if the new single, ‘I Got You’ gets the attention it richly deserves. He’s signed to Parlophone, so you’re almost certainly going to be seeing and hearing more of him thanks to the flexing of some old skool major label muscle.
Why Seramic?
Big-hearted, big-sounding shouty squelch funk that puts you in mind of the very great Sly And The Family Stone with its emotive delivery, gritty background textures and plain weirdness – all essential ingredients that make this work so well. He also cites influences like Van Morrison, Tom Waits and D’Angelo, it’s quite the stew of classics, old and new.
Tell Us More
The hyperactive ‘Greg’s Love’, which came out towards the end of 2016 and featured Bootsy Collins, was an unrestrained affair which crackled along with its bouncing rubber ball bassline. Bootsy’s interjections recalled all those great Funkadelic records where cool dudes start chatting with each other as if the monstrous funk beast they’re whipping up is no big deal. New single, ‘I Got You’ is a high point so far. “It plays with your expectations a bit more than some previous tracks,” says Foster. “You don’t quite know where the song is going, like an out of control lawn mower heading for the children.” Digging back through earlier material, there’s evidence that the more unhinged he allows himself to get, the better it is. Here’s hoping that’s the direction of travel.
‘I Got You’ is out on Parlophone
