Love in the Groove by the Bastas Project combines the warmth of music made in a family setting with a sound designed to move people. By means of eight tracks, the collective from Woodstock, Georgia fuses funk, soul, rhythms inspired by Afrobeat and refined pop, always keeping the songwriting at the heart of the project. The album looks at love from many different points of view—attraction, commitment, memory, regret and the understanding that some things must be said before it is too late. This balance between an engaging groove and more serious emotional lyrics is what gives the record its individuality. It is music that suits the dancefloor, but there is always something beneath the rhythm urging you to listen a bit more closely.
“Gravity of Love” is one of the standout moments on the album, featuring a strong bass line, a four-on-the-floor beat, rhythmic guitar, hand percussion and bright brass additions. The song gives attraction a physical dimension by employing the terms gravity and orbit so as to make romantic fascination seem almost impossible to escape. “Too Late for Words” takes on a more reflective character, combining a warm Afrosoul rhythm with lyrics that deal with aging, regret, mortality and the appreciation which we sometimes fail to express. There’s a certain effectiveness in this contrast: while the music continues to move it is the lyrics that urge us to stop putting off the things that really matter. As a whole, the tracks demonstrate that The Bastas Project is able to present emotionally meaningful songwriting in an accessible way without losing its seriousness.
Made in a home studio and built upon Alfred Basta’s lyric-and-feeling-driven method, Love in the Groove has a closeness that matches the subject of the album. The arrangements are carefully crafted, using space and natural human timing in conjunction with the rhythm rather than letting the production dominate the songs. The reason the album is so memorable is that it recognises love is not a single emotion; it can be exciting, reassuring, complicated, painful and urgent all at the same time, and The Bastas Project permits these contradictions to stay. Love in the Groove is thus not only rhythmically appealing but also emotionally solid—a record concerned with making the most of a connection while there is still the opportunity to say what needs to be said.
The Bastas Project turns love into dance, but always ensures that the rhythm doesn’t conceal the weight of what the heart has to say.
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