Wow it’s been 16 years! Where ya been Neneh? You’d think after all this time she’d have some songs written, but the covers are cool, especially the one of The Stooges’ “Dirt.” Growing up with the legendary Don Cherry as her father, it was inevitable that Neneh returned to her jazz roots. While she’s known for her groundbreaking 1986 hit “Buffalo Stance” that merged hip-hop with pop and soul, her first band was the brilliant jazzy post-punk group Rip Rig + Panic in the late 70s. Then she receded from the spotlight in Sweden and raised a family, producing music with family members in CirKus, which I wasn’t even aware of until now. The Thing is Neneh with a Swede and two Norwegians, doing mostly free-jazz interpretations of songs by Suicide, MF Doom, Martina Topley-Bird (“Too Tough To Die”), Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry. This may not be anything new, but still sounds startlingly fresh. | Pop Matters Review
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