The Politix

Album cover image courtesy of The Politix Facebook page

When I came across them recently, I was first intrigued by Miami-based band The Politix because of their name. Then, I went to their website, and I got hooked by their music. The band has released a new EP titled Reach Out that, as their website suggests, “opens the door to a new chapter for the band.” In their new chapter, three of the band’s founding members (Jason Matthews, Nick Tannura, and Aaron Glueckauf) collaborate with singer Johnny Walker to produce a sound they call, in a description befitting the band’s name, “progressive soul.” The sound does feel progressive as I listen, like it’s helping me embark on a journey forward to new levels of tranquility. I can relax to this. I can work to this. I can also groove to this.

Meanwhile, I can remember to this as well. In the late 1980s, I worked at a radio station that played adult contemporary hits, and for as much as I watched MTV back then, I also took in my share of the AC-oriented fare offered by VH1 at the time. These experiences included the more jazzy and soulful side of adult contemporary, perhaps most well known in its pop crossover appeal by the likes of Simply Red, but also apparent in songs such as Love and Money’s “Halleluiah Man.” The Politix both capture and update this feel masterfully, and if, like me, this kind of stuff rests squarely at the heart of your musical taste, then you’ll also likely be like me and not be able to get enough of this EP.

In the EP’s title song, “Reach Out,” Walker repeatedly sings the line “Build your structure. Make it matter.” With their four new songs, the Politix have built a solid structure for their own new chapter and for a new journey for the rest of us, and it’s a structure that can help us see just how much good music can matter. Do your part for the cause, and check it out.