The Swingles

Not many artists make it to 50 years. Fewer still would decide to use that milestone to make the most forward- facing music of their career. The Swingles are a group like no other, Deep End an album that defies expectations. The Swingle Singers of the 1960s won five Grammys and collaborated with musical icons the Modern Jazz Quartet and Luciano Berio. For many, their agile interpretations of Bach redefined what singing could be. But eventually the group’s image and sound fell out of step with the times, becoming a byword for light entertainment. With Deep End, the modern, young Swingles start a fresh chapter, ironically by reclaiming the essence of the original ensemble – a spirit of collaboration and exploration of the limits of the human voice. The result is a return, after 5 decades, to the vanguard of vocal music.

The 7 stunning singers that make up today’s UK-based group use their voices to conjure imaginative worlds, not least on the album’s original songs. The cathartic wail of ‘Piper’ is reminiscent of Björk; the anthemic ‘Narnia’ evokes a land between Talk Talk and Bastille; ‘Burden’ is a rollicking, whiskey-soaked love song. Alongside these, there are shimmering reinventions of artists as diverse as John Martyn, Debussy and Mumford and Sons.

Collaboration is at the heart of this album. Producer Jon Cotton’s immersive atmospherics provide a haunting backdrop for the Swingles’ vocals. There are sublime guest appearances from renowned jazz pianist John Taylor; UK rising star Jo Hamilton; the late, great Billie Holiday; octogenarian group founder Ward Swingle; and even a couple of remixes. Perhaps most surprisingly, yet harking back to their classic 60s albums, the Swingles are joined on several tracks by a superb rhythm section.

But above all, there is the primal power of voices raised together in harmony. Anything but a nostalgia act, the Swingles are celebrating their half-century by making vital music, once again.