SHEBAD has a certain kind of effortless synergy. As the title of the Guelph collective's debut album reflects, they pour themselves into a jam-y, porous take on jazz-inflected soul music as a cathartic exercise.
The road to catharsis often isn't nearly as seamlessly flowing as the five-piece's winding-river melodies, which have just enough looseness to remain fluid.
Press notes for Music Is the Answer frame it as underscoring founding vocalist Claire Voy and bassist Ciccio's "devotion to music as a life-affirming guide." Every track on the album is a reverent testament to the sensual, spiritual oath SHEBAD are living — and an enticing invitation to try it on, even if just for one song.