London’s neo-funk underground has been quietly cooking something special for years, and Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel have been right at the heart of it. “Work” — their latest collaboration with Brixton-based vocalist and guitarist Del Blake — is the kind of record that reminds you why the dancefloor was invented in the first place.
From the opening bars, a wah-wah guitar lick grabs you by the lapels and refuses to let go. It’s a bold, attention-demanding move, and it pays off completely. Del Blake’s vocals do the rest — warm, sensual, and effortlessly cool — riding a groove that sits somewhere between classic P-Funk and a late-night Prince session that never quite ended. The duo’s Venezuelan roots give the rhythm section a suppleness that pure London funk sometimes lacks, a looseness in the hips that makes even the tightest moments feel organic.
What’s impressive here is the restraint. In an era of maximalist production, Laya and Montiel understand that funk breathes. Milt Mavrakakis’s keys ripple and shimmer without cluttering the pocket, while Matheus Nova’s bass locks in tight with Juan’s drums and percussion to create something genuinely physical. You don’t listen to this track so much as feel it arriving through the soles of your feet.
Del Blake — perhaps best known to heads for his “Nightclubbing” collab with the duo — is on superb form, his delivery carrying that rare quality of making every listener feel like the song was written specifically for them. The lyrical conceit, the push and pull between obligation and the irresistible pull of the dance-floor, is as old as funk itself, but lands fresh here because the performance is so committed.
With both a vocal and instrumental mix on offer, this is clearly designed to do serious work across different contexts — peak-time floors, late-night radio sessions, discerning bar programmes. It’ll hold its own in all of them.
Eighteen years into their journey and 164 releases deep, Imagenes Recordings continues to punch above its weight. “Work” is a funk essential, full stop.
Martin Madigan
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