Description

The Viennese duo, otherwise known as Tosca, confound expectations on their new album, Outta Here. The sonic collages and smooth downbeat jams with which they made their name are replaced with a soul/jazz/blues confection thats closer to a band like Brand New Heavies than anything else. Its called Outta Here for a reason, explains Rupert Huber. The title stands for change, a change to the concept weve had so far. It refers to a change in energy and dynamic. Weve been know for an almost ambient sounds. The new songs are much more beatoriented and direct. Basically, its just a lot more energetic. it certainly is that. See tracks such as Crazy Love for evidence. Built on a muscular bassline, it sees Rob Gallagher (ex-Galliano) doing his slinky, soulful thing, while keyboards and muted sound effects flare in the background. The rare groove revival starts here. Swimswimswim reworks the same elements, with the addition of Cath Coffey (Stereo MCs) into a irresistible pulse of feel good vibes. Meanwhile, the title track, Outta Here, sounds like a lost gem from the early 90s acid jazz era. It was a natural evolution, says Richard Dorfmeister. In the past, we were very focussed internally because we were in a studio on our own, working slowly making sonic collages. This time, because we were working more with singers the process was naturally quicker and the results more instant and upbeat. In that sense the title Outta Here literally means that we got out of our studio.

Do Tosca think the new sound will wrong foot their fans? Its not completely different. Its still our style and mood, its just more direct, says Richard Dorfmeister. People always have a picture of you and it can take a long time to change that. You stand for something and thats how they see you. I think people see us in that laid-back and chilled kind of way. Over the last 20 years weve been described as lounge, chill out, downbeat. We always ignored it because we felt it was more about the music. Weve always seen ourselves more in terms of being an alternative to commercial music. Thats still what were doing, just in a different, more direct kind of way.