Listen: Meanwhile – “Luvletta”

These days custom dictates that any new act must face their fair share of comparisons, however tedious or ill-conceived. Thankfully for newcomer Meanwhile this has meant a flurry of people likening his first drop, “Luvletta”, to the king of funk himself, Prince.

While those debts are fairly obvious in the razor sharp guitar lick that carries much of the song, the vocals are a standout, and in both tone and delivery owe much to the soulful moan of TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe. Not that any of this is to the song’s detriment. Despite being a first (self-produced no less) release the whole thing is a raucous party of a track, not least during the moment the frenetic percussion pauses to make room for a horn breakdown.

This is the best kind of “Manic Monday” pick me up – Prince would be proud.