Sa-Ra Creative Partners are a tough bunch to classify. Their debut mixed equal elements of funk, R&B and hip-hop into a glitchy, danceable stew.
Their sophomore effort, Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love, mines that same territory, taking George Clinton's Parliament Funkadelic sound into deep space, and even indulging in the occasional Sly Stone cover ("Just Like a Baby").
The back-to-back openers, "Spacefruit" and "Dirty Beauty," are a perfect one-two combo for nailing down the album's alternating sounds. The former is a smooth digitized bossa-nova-based soul affair, and the latter is a choppy, staticky funk groove. Whip those up into any number of combinations, and you have Nuclear Evolution.
Sa-Ra take on disco with the uptempo "Death of a Star," add a few glam touches to "Powder Bump" and throw some heavy bounce into "Love Czars."
At two discs and 23 tracks, however (the second disc is a few scattered bonus songs), Nuclear Evolution is a bit too long, and some of its grooves, while interesting, don't really go anywhere.
That doesn't change the fact that a solid two-thirds of the album is innovative, new-direction R&B music, something the current scene can always use.
Hear samples from Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love at Amazon.com. It will be released June 23.
