As
Tuxedo, singer/songwriter
Mayer Hawthorne and producer
Jake One tap into the fun, celebration, and hedonistic charm of peak '70s disco and funk. Clearly the product of countless hours spent listening to
Zapp,
Midnight Star,
the Gap Band, and a plethora of lesser-known acts,
Tuxedo offer a detailed re-creation of the era's glittery party essence. When they materialized in 2013 with their first single, "Do It," the duo's sound was a little more polished, if deeply indebted to nostalgic sounds. With their albums, however,
Tuxedo honed in on the hazy, champagne-colored production of the songs and times they were emulating, so much so that
Tuxedo III, their third full-length, could at times easily pass for a forgotten relic of '70s electro-funk. Kicking off with the cheeky and self-referential "The Tuxedo Way," all the throwbacks to the Studio 54 era are quickly put front and center. Falsetto vocal harmonies, prominent interplay between slippery bass lines and blinking synth patterns, understated horn lines, and tight rhythms all show up covered in a decidedly nostalgic analog production. The bumbling synth bass lines and rudimentary drum machine programming on songs like "You & Me" and "If U Want It" directly recall early-'80s radio funk production, while the
Benny Sings-assisted "Toast 2 Us" reimagines silky quiet storm R&B from the same time. "Vibrations" gets a little closer to the end of the '80s with a pop bounce reminiscent of where
New Edition was taking commercial R&B at the time.
Tuxedo III is a meticulous exercise in genre emulation, which makes moments like a clunky rap cameo from
MF Doom on "Dreaming in the Daytime" or the occasional lyric with updated slang feel a little out of place. Overall, however, the songs are nothing but feel-good fun, continuing
Tuxedo's obsessive drive to write dance floor burners that never were, but should have been. ~ Fred Thomas