Lovers Rock
Reggae written about romance instead of politics, and made in south London.
The pattern
2 bars, sixteenth notes. Loops until you stop it.
The open hat lane is the giveaway. It sits on all four offbeat eighths in both bars, at 84 and 76, while the closed hat only taps the four beats at 54, plus one soft tap on the very last sixteenth, so the pattern hisses continuously instead of ticking. That is the flying cymbal. Underneath it is still a one drop with nothing on beat 1, except the kick now hits twice, on beat 3 at 104 and on the and of 3 at 70, which is what softens the landing. Cross-stick on beat 3 at 90, well below the 104 to 114 a roots record would use, plus one ghost on beat 4 of bar two. Shaker on every offbeat sixteenth at 44 and 50. Bar two adds a kick pickup on the and of 4 and opens the final hat harder. A tambourine on the offbeat eighths is standard on these records and there is no lane for it here.
What it is
South London, not Kingston. In the mid seventies a generation of British-born teenagers wanted reggae that sounded like the Philadelphia soul records they also loved, sung mostly by young women and mostly about love rather than repatriation. Dennis Bovell, Dennis Harris and the Lovers Rock label built it, Louisa Mark was fifteen when her first record came out, and Janet Kay's Silly Games went to number two in the UK in 1979 on a rhythm so soft it barely announces itself. The drums keep the one drop but the whole thing is played lighter, with the hi-hat opened on every offbeat in what Jamaican musicians called the flying cymbal. It is the first reggae style that belongs to Britain rather than to Jamaica.
What it sounds like
Soft, wide and slightly wistful. Electric piano rather than organ, chords with sevenths and ninths in them, a bassline that moves more than a roots line and sits higher in the mix. The hi-hats are open almost all the time, washing rather than ticking. Strings, real or from a string machine, come in on the chorus. The lead vocal is young, close-miked, doubled and sent to a long plate. Drums are recorded soft: a cross-stick you could miss, a kick with the beater damped, and a tambourine keeping the offbeat because the hats are too washy to do it.
Key elements
- The flying cymbalThe hi-hat opened on every offbeat eighth so the pattern hisses continuously. Bunny Lee's producers used it in Jamaica first, and lovers rock made it the default.
- Soul harmonyMajor keys, sevenths and ninths, and progressions borrowed from Philadelphia records rather than the one or two chords roots reggae usually settles for.
- A young lead vocalAlmost always female, sung close and unforced, doubled at the same octave rather than harmonised. The style is defined as much by that voice as by the rhythm.
- Kick doubled on the and of 3The one drop kick gets a second, quieter hit an eighth later. It softens the landing and it is the easiest way to tell a lovers rock drum track from a roots one.
- Electric pianoA Rhodes or Wurlitzer playing the skank instead of a Hammond, with chorus on it. Warmer and blunter than the guitar chop, and it takes up more space.
How to get them
- Open hatsPut the open hat on all four offbeat eighths, at 76 to 88, and leave the closed hat on the beats only at 54. The wash is the arrangement, so do not tidy it up.
- KickBeat 3 at around 102 and the and of 3 at 70, both with a felt beater and no click. Tune it a little higher than a roots kick so it does not swamp the Rhodes.
- Cross-stickSofter than roots: around 90, with a short room reverb and no spring. If it cracks, it is wrong for this style.
- RhodesChorus at a slow rate and shallow depth, a touch of tremolo, and voice the chords in the middle octave with the seventh on top. Play the skank a hair behind the guitar.
- VocalDouble the lead and pan the two takes about fifteen percent apart, then a plate at two and a half seconds high-passed at 400Hz. Keep the compression light so the breath stays in.
- Swing56 percent. Slightly more than a one drop. These were sessions with British players raised on soul, and the sixteenths lean.
Reference points
Janet Kay, Louisa Mark, Carroll Thompson, Dennis Bovell, Matumbi, Sugar Minott, and the Lovers Rock label. Named as reference points for the sound, not as endorsements or as anyone to imitate.
The pattern is a starting point rather than a rule. If you want the theory underneath why any of it works, Battuto measures it.