100-word Album of the Week (39)

Sly and the Family Stone, Fresh (1973)

Truly, this is funk for the wee small hours. The vocals and bass are out front, the horns tease your dancing feet, but there is a dark, swampy vibe that suggests you sit back down and finish your drink. The melodies – including a hypnotic Thankful N’ Thoughtful and the surely self-referential Let Me Have It All – are second to none, but they emerge slowly from the mix, suggesting an older, wiser Sly. More accessible than the feted There’s A Riot Goin’ On but less bouncy than Stand!, Fresh comes across as a low-slung, dreamy compromise between the two.