Con Brio - Explorer (2018)

Explorer is the follow-up to Con Brio's critically acclaimed 2016 debut Paradise. Showcasing a newly layered, contemporary production style, the record represents an impressive leap for the group PopMatters calls ""the best new live band in America."" Named for an Italian musical direction meaning 'with spirit,' Con Brio is a San Francisco Bay Area band that plays soul, psych-rock and R&B as fresh and freethinking as the place they call home. With singer Ziek McCarter bringing ""the dance moves, splits and all, of James Brown"" (KQED) and a band that ""comes across like a party punk version of Sly and the Family Stone"" (Consequence of Sound), Con Brio is known to convert anyone who sees their electric live show. Explorer both builds on the success of Paradise and serves as a travelogue of sorts - a reflection on the two years of nearly nonstop touring that followed their first record's success. (The band, known in the industry for their tireless work ethic, has played high-profile sets at Outside Lands, Lollapalooza, Japan's Fuji Rock, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and North Sea Jazz Festival, amongst others.) Having proved themselves on an international stage, Con Brio breaks new ground on Explorer, expanding beyond raw energy and retro sounds toward a more contemporary, layered production style, all delivered with road-tested confidence. It's a big record, with plenty of joy, a few growing pains, and more questions than answers. What does it mean to be an American band traveling the world in the year 2018 with a message of hope and tolerance? The record sounds, unsurprisingly, like a band on the verge.