Eight studio albums that have sold millions of copies during their 20-year duration, whilst staying completely independent of any major labels – that’s quite a feat. In 1995, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton met in Washington D.C.’s Eighteenth Street Lounge, a pinnacle of Washington’s 90s dance scene and a club Eric co-owned. Bonding over their love for club culture, dub, bossa nova and jazz, Thievery Corporation was born. A year later and their first effort, Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi, perfectly mixed all of the above, establishing the duo as one of trip-hop’s more mellow high runners. Downtempo electronica, ambient dub, coffee table dance music, or whatever you want to call it, Thievery Corporation personified a sound which softened the transition into a new millennia and practically defined an entire sub-genre of electronic music. Still having never had a radio hit or a big budget video, the group rose to fame in their “underground” game, collaborating with illustrious fans such as David Byrne, Perry Farrell, The Flaming Lips, Anushka Shankar, Emilíana Torrini, Femi Kuti, Seu Jorge and Bebel Gilberto, and going on to headline the likes of Coachella and Lollapalooza. In being cited by a generation of electronic producers as a major influence, Thievery Corporation certainly have a lot to live up to.

Each new album is a venture into a new project. 2011’s Culture Of Fear sees a focus on the lounge beach sound of Café del Mar, previous album Saudade (2014) pays tribute to bossa nova, and the latest creation finds Thievery Corporation again in a new direction of exploration. As we were introduced to on their debut LP, Thievery Corporation are heavily influenced by Jamaican music. The Temple Of I & I saw the duo and their rhythm section head to Kingston, Jamaica, where they crossed the Blue Mountains to get to Port Antione and set up camp at the Geejam recording studio. The vibe of the place runs very true throughout the record, ranging from the deep dub beats that’s in opening track ‘Thief Rockers’ or the dancehall riddims in ‘True Sons Of Zion’, but it’s always glued together with Thievery Corporation’s distinctive and now nostalgic laidback magic.

For the most part, The Temple Of I & I is split into two – part rum and cola block party, part high-grade ganja lock in. The album rolls from a feel-good summer sound of ‘Strike The Root’ or the urban skank in ‘Road Block’ both of which make you want to max out the sound system [for all to hear], to the hazy room chill-out of ‘Time + Space’ and ‘Babylon Falling’ that shouldn’t go any further than the living room couch. Thievery Corporation’s nod to the golden ages of reggae is helped by its featured artists such as former Miss Jamaica winner Racquel Jones or long time collaborators Mr Lif, Ras Puma, Zee and Notch. However, the album’s best moments come from tracks which hark back more towards the group’s beginning, not ones that particularly embrace much of a Jamaican influence. Shana Halligan adding beautiful vocals to ‘Love Has No Heart’, Elin Melgarejo is equally alluring vocals on ‘Lose To Find’ and instrumental highpoint ‘Let The Chalice Blaze’ all have the ultra-smooth sexy groove which could have featured on the best of the band’s back catalogue. This is by no means a failed attempt to capture the essence of a genre, as the socially consolidating ‘Drop Your Guns’ showcases, holding the perfect mix of sunny reggae and Thievery Corporation’s mellow trip.

The bar has long been set incredibly high for Thievery Corporation. Not only by the likes of their albums The Mirror Conspiracy and The Richest Man In Babylon which define a genre, but their previous LP shone a new light on the capabilities of the band. Therefore, after the eight times I have now listened thru to The Temple Of I & I, I have sadly yet inevitably come away feeling slightly disappointed in what could have been.
Iain Lauder

Website: thieverycorporation.com
Facebook: facebook.com/thieverycorporation
Twitter: twitter.com/ThieveryCorpDC