Hollie Cook ADD

Review

Album Review: Mykal Rose, Subatomic Sound System & Hollie Cook - Rockin' Like A Champion

07/26/2024

by Steve Topple

What a collaboration: the former lead singer of Black Uhuru meets Lee “Scratch” Perry’s former band and London’s top lovers rock songstress across 15 tracks and dubs. Yes, it’s Mykal Rose x Subatomic Sound System x Hollie Cook with a new album. Rockin' Like A Champion, released via Dubshot Records and Controlled Substance Sound Labs, sees the artists bring sound system culture kicking and screaming into the 21^st century with a project that is as classy as it is diverse – not least thanks to the slick production, mixing, and mastering by Subatomic’s John Emch.

The album opens with No Fear (an atmospheric intro) before the title track starts the album proper. It’s a heavy roots cut with the bass booming, horns swaying, and Rose providing furious vocals, with Cook equally backing them up to boot. Get High picks the pace up with a four-to-the-floor across dub engineering and samples with Rose discussing legalisation, while Put Down The Gun meanders back slightly but with the same vibe and an impassioned Rose urging peace.

Forward is more ‘forward-moving’ roots-dub, while One Love feels slightly less frantic, as Rose’s lilting vocal winds across multiple breaks with Cook’s sweet backing – with the title being self-explanatory. Times Getting Tough brings in a more resonant sound, deeper in hZ with great use of additional percussion and a sobering performance from Cook as she discusses the state of the world. Then, Streets On Fire takes the lyrical theme one step further but musically it is a deviation with the four-to-the-floor gone, replaced by a dub-heavy imposing bassline and stuttering instrumentation.

Jah Take Us Away (Roots Mix) sees the sound wound back to the 80s, with the then-dancehall trick of the root-seventh chord progression coupled with some heavy sonics across the engineering and Rose’s engaging vocal around the need for faith. The album’s main tracks close with Happy Is The Man Who Finds Wisdom. It may be a verbal mouthful, but musically it is a stripped-back affair focusing on smooth roots vibes with stark bubble rhythm keys, a heavy bass, running sax line plus gorgeous vocals from Cook and strong lyrics around enlightenment.

We then have dubs/mixes of five of the tracks. Never Stop My Dream is based on Forward and is atmospheric and ethereal, Jah Take Us Away (Bass Mix) sees an incredibly heavy bassline take centre stage, Put Down The Gun Dub brings much of the additional instrumentation to the fore, and Happy Is The Man… Dub sees the sax and (pleasingly) Cook’s vocals take centre stage across a stark reworking. There’s also a ‘dubstrumental’ version of Get High to boot.

Overall, Rockin’ Like A Champion is a very solid and engaging release from the trio. Filled with a variety of sounds, it exudes class and substance. Admittedly, it would have been nice to have Cook to the front more – but that doesn’t detract from what is an excellent release.

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