Friends

Why it matters

Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare spent two decades as the engine hidden behind other people's hits, and here they finally put their names on the marquee and made the guest singers come sit in their rhythm.

The clearest proof is "Night Nurse," where Mick Hucknall sings Gregory Isaacs' fever-dream lyric while Robbie's bass moves so slow and heavy it feels like the room's own pulse — the vocal is a passenger, the low end is driving. That same logic swallows unlikely material whole, dragging the "Theme From Mission Impossible" and the Stones' "Satisfaction" down into a one-drop where the tension resolves into sway rather than release. It's a covers-and-guests project that could have been a novelty, saved by the fact that the two players treat every song as a chance to show that the groove, not the melody, is the thing you remember. By the end you stop tracking who is singing and start hearing the pair underneath, unhurried, running the whole show.

Listen

Tracklist

1. 01Friday3:59
2. 02Night Nurse (feat. Simply Red)3:53
3. 03Seems to Me I'm Losing (feat. Ali Campbell)3:41
4. 04Only a Smile (feat. Maxi Priest)3:39
5. 05You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to (feat. Liba)4:02
6. 06Penny Lover (feat. Ambelique)3:57
7. 07Theme From Mission Impossible4:00
8. 08Candy Girl (feat. Danny Madder)4:03
9. 09Ghetto Girl (feat. Simply Red)3:52
10. 10All This Love (feat. One Plus One)4:03
11. 11Shoulder to Cry On (feat. Liba)4:57
12. 12Satisfaction4:02
13. 13Night Nurse (feat. Simply Red) [Jah Wobble Radio Mix]3:38
14. 14Friday (Street Mix)4:06
15. 15Candy Girl (feat. Danny Madder) [Street Mix]4:06