Mario Evon Whisper Redefining Melodies On Reggae Soul Vol 1

Reggae Soul, as the name suggests, is the love child of both genres and the title of the debut opus for Mario Guthrie. Reggae-Soul Vol. 1: M.E. on Love is a groovy, finger snapping, bluesy collection of 13 tracks that gives us an insight into Guthrie’s version of events relating to love, heartbreak and hope. Mario will readily explain his singles as the place where “R&B and Soul meets Reggae and Dancehall” and his album displays this pleasantly.

The album is aptly introduced by the track Reggae Meets Soul (intro) which doubles at setting the pace and an insight into what to expect. It flows into catchy songs like Soul Tek and Love in the Mawnin - tracks 2 and 4 respectively - with both tracks standing out as they excellently fuse the grooves of R&B and the irie jammings of Reggae music.

Evon has often compared his style to that of a Babyface meets Bob Marley with a touch of Junior Gong and certainly this is beautifully embodied with his cover of Babyface’s Whip Appeal. Other noteworthy tracks include You Don’t Understand and the remix of Love in the Mawnin featuring Jamaican singer/rapper Shaq the MC.

The musical stylings of guitarist Lamont Savory and bass player Michael Fletcher are among the musicians who played on the album. If ever there were a drawback to the project it'd have to be its mainstream likability. As much as the opus transitions effortlessly, each passing single will fail in making major local airwaves. Nonetheless, great music tend to find people regardless of the medium and Reggae-Soul Vol. 1: M.E. on Love is a solid body of work that is more than replay worthy!