Hartlepool’s NEEB are something of an enigma. With an evolving sound and live presence that’s now been put to record, it was time to get to know them better.
By Graeme Smith
Blending jazz and soul with electronica and singer-songwriter elements, it’s hard to adequately describe the NEEB sound. The band have had several forms over the years but since we’ve known them, they’ve been fronted by Jasmine Weatherill who writes lyrics as well as sings.
“Jasmine is very talented,” the band say. “She is the first vocalist we’ve worked with who has been in the room as we jammed out the music, contributing vocal and lyrical ideas, so the whole song has been written and arranged together. We’ve been working with Jasmine for about eighteen months now and we’re really starting to understand each other’s approach to the creative process.”
It’s a process that takes place in the band’s base, Mobeus Studios, where they create everything in house. Alongside Weatherill, NEEB are Mark Hand on keyboards, synthesisers, vocoder and percussion, Mark Lloyd on drums and percussion, and Tony Waite on bass and production.
We’ve shared a few singles from the group, but their debut album, Take To The Sky, is our first chance to get fully immersed in their music.
The album’s chilled title track sets the scene, lush with synth and ambient textures. Weatherill’s vocal is its beating heart, instantly arresting and with a searching style that suits the groove.
“Each track on the album is musically quite different, although they all undoubtedly sound like NEEB songs,” say the band. “We’ve so many different influences within the band, which we bring to the music. From drum ‘n’ bass to jazz, electronica to psychedelic pop. There’s always a groove, and you can hear where we lean into different styles.”
Things get funkier and fierier during The Way I Do and from there we get plenty of twists and turns. We get echoing experimentation in early highlight Cave of Hands. It’s contrasted by moments that feel more throwback, like Time Is Elastic giving us something for lovers of jazz and soul old and new.
The melancholic Wasted brings things back to the ambient, setting up lively and hopeful album closer, Brighter Days.
A big coup for the album is its guest musicians. Founding member Andy Wain returns to play synth, while most notably Talk Talk and Sade’s Martin Ditcham contributes drums.
“Working with Martin was weird,” say the band. “Mark Lloyd bumped into him in London, they got talking and, after hearing the tracks, he agreed to add percussion. Pretty cool really. He lives in Brazil, so we shared files back and forth. He recorded his parts in his studio over there. We loved what he did; they definitely gave more depth to the recordings.”
With the band’s style evolving so much already – and even within the album – I was keen to understand whether the band had landed on their definitive sound yet.
“Our music is still changing and growing; we have a lot of new songs written for the next album already,” they say. “The introduction of Jasmine into the band has definitely had an impact on how we work and what we create. Most of it is now song-based and more tightly arranged. It’s a great challenge to try and capture the ideas from the freeform and distil it into a song. It’s going to be interesting to see where it leads.”
I agree and the thought of another album on the horizon is tantalising. The band are laying down demos and promising us elements of ‘80s dance and afrobeat to add to their already extensive range of sounds.
In the meantime, we can enjoy Take To The Sky which is out now. You can give it a listen below.
