The latest and greatest product of the Great White North, Canadian jazz/hip-hop/funk band After Funk have released their sophomore album, Til The Sun Comes Up, and with it a few new tricks up their sleeve. A relative newcomer to the American funk and jam scene, After Funk has already shared the stage as an opening act to some of the genre’s most prominent artists, including Lettuce, Snarky Puppy, Dumpstaphunk, Kung Fu, The Nth Power and Walk Off The Earth, and was also the winner of Electric Forest Festival’s “Instrumental Forester” contest in 2014, getting to play two sets in the Forest alongside acts like The String Cheese Incident, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Zeds Dead, Flying Lotus, Stephen Marley.

Getting To Know: After Funk, The Grooviest New Band North of the Border

With Til The Sun Comes Up, After Funk has showcased a refinement to their material, building off of the release of their self-titled January 2014 EP which was mixed and mastered by Alan Evans of Soulive. Opening with an energetic, celebratory strut in “Elephant Walk,” it’s impossible to ignore the rich musicality of such a young band.  Beginning with keyboard player Yanick Allwood’s bright and bold vocals, he sings with a soul and passion of someone twice his age. It’s tough not to hear some of the great Nigel Hall’s voice in Allwood. Drummer Jaime Rosenberg is the perfect backbone to the band, supplying a healthy dose of bombastic beats with bass player Justin Bontje holding down the funky low-end.

“Prelude to the Apocalypse” and “Zombie Apocalypse Dance” nicely partner together to form a fun and silly duo. Rosenberg notes to the The Herald Palladium, “It reminds me of Parliament and Funkadelic a little bit. There’s a lot of crazy lyrical content. It’s a little out there, but it’s just a lot of fun, especially when we play it live.” 

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“Catching Sunrise (Toe Up)” featuring 90’s Canadian hip-hop star Choclair, kicks off on a jazzier, looser tone, something reminiscent to another one of After Funk’s influences, the String Cheese Incident. Moog keyboards are accented by fluttering guitar riffs from Phil Tessis and builds up to several flowing verses from Choclair. Songs like “Catching Sunrise” and “Tricky” highlight the band’s focus on song writing for this album rather than strictly jamming. “Tricky,” although not an out and out love song definitely speaks to keeping a relationship together, something anyone can identify with. 

“Rage & Chuff” is definitely the rocker on the album. Tessis lays down some heavy punk riffs while Rosenberg drops in with a thud on the kit. The song dissipates into some funkier, spacey terrain as the song is broken down and built back up within it’s lifetime and returns to the punk riffs it’s initially based on, Allwood going up to hit some note that’s’ in Charles Bradley’s range. Pretty special.

Nikki Glaspie Talks ‘Abundance’ Of Funk, Spreading Love In The Nth Power

The album ends with two more strong selections, “Ready To Go” and “Can’t Take Away Love (Sweet Taste).” With “Ready To Go,” a slinky, funk tune turns into a blues exhibition. Tessis begins the assault with some sweet, savory blues licks, the rest of the band slowly but surely filling in all around him: excellently placed keys, a sly, sexy rhythm section, and finally After Funk’s brilliant horn section enter taking the song to a whole ‘nother level. With the album’s final track “Can’t Take Away Love (Sweet Taste),” After Funk puts a resounding exclamation mark on their sophomore effort. A simple diddy that any jazz, R&B, or soul music fan latch onto, this song serves as a great anthem with it’s resounding lyric “You can take everything from me, but you can’t take away love.”

If Til The Sun Comes Up is any indication of the After Funk’s coming of age, then the funk scene is in store for another heavy-hitter in the years to come. Be on the lookout for these Canucks, they will not disappoint. 

After Funk Tour Dates

11/20 Fredericton, NB @ The Capital Complex
11/21 Halifax, NS @ The Seahorse
11/25 Buffalo, NY @ The Tralf Music Hall
11/27 Harleysville, PA @ The Keystone Lounge
11/28 New York, NY @ Rockwood Music Hall
12/3 Rochester, NY @ Flour City Station
12/4 Guelph, NY @ Royal Electric Guelph
12/11 Buffalo, NY @ Iron Works
12/26 Sarnia, ON @ Paddy Flaherty’s