natty-manlikei music reviews Virgin Media
Acoustic reggae-pop sunshine for the PlayStation generation
Anyone expecting to find the future of roots reggae or dub on Natty's debut album will find little to please them. A friend of the Adele and Kate Nash set he offers instead engagingly breezy, reggae-fied feel-good vibes that go down well with a cold glass of cider and a barbequed sausage and only occasionally lean on Rasta-man cliches. The 24-year-old North Londoner is being pitched as our answer to Jack Johnson and on occasion he's as chilled out – but his fusion of social commentary and pop is closer to 80s UK ska acts like The Beat than US surfer dude.
Current single July – with its memories of "girls in skimpy bikinis" and summers long gone in "Costa Del Southend" – is sweet, radio friendly and by no means a fluke. If anything the rapid-fire MC-ing of Badman and exuberant ska of Bedroom Eyes are even more accessible and irresistibly catchy.
More to try:
The Beat: The Best Of The Beat
Eagle Eye Cherry: Desireless
Jack Johnson: Sleep Through The Static
Jimmy Cliff: The Harder They Come
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