While dub and reggae were the strongest influences on Lodekka's self-titled, debut EP, this time around, Lodekka's The Get On EP explores his creative flows with an ear turned toward funk and soul. At the same time however, the island sounds aren't far from the surface of this music. Lodekka's alter-ego Stuart Dace is still rocking the ukulele and dub production techniques, a fact you'll experience throughout the EP.

1. Get On
2. More Than Before
3. Five & Twenty To
4. Early Hours

With "Get On" Lodekka explores laid back funk and delivers all the slow pouring sweetness you could hope for. This song really shows how much songwriting growth Stuart Dace has gained since his debut. The sound reminds me a lot of the swaggering, sultry, funk of Foxgluv.

"More Than Before" dips into the dub jar with all the easy horns and echoing echoes you'd expect when someone tells you they've dipped into the dub jar. As with "Get On", Dace's ukulele lays down a lazy, melodic bed, seeded liberally with the aforementioned horns, spacey synth vibes, and altogether trance inducing, mellow percussion. If "Get On" took funk to the hazy nap following the luau, this one takes dub. No matter what though, you're kicking back and letting the good food and soft island breeze drift you away.

"Five & Twenty To" is a bit of a different story. If the last two songs were part of the luau after party (translation: napping), this one represents the mystery you'll encounter upon waking up and wondering where you are exactly. What beach is this? Where is my hotel? Am I staying at a hotel? This song represents the cool and calculating search for the answers and does so with the kind of jazz horns you practically hear in black and white, stretched across a thing called "the silver screen". It's mysterious, suspenseful, and moody, but far from perilous. I think in the end, you stumble into a smoky jazz bar and into the arms of that impossibly alluring noir chanteuse, and find yourselves walking back down the beach to somewhere secluded, but who can tell for sure where you're going.

If you're still following the story, then "Early Hours" represents that secluded place. I could be wrong, but it sounds like you've found one of those slightly subterranean, seaside caves, but it isn't any ordinary cave. The jagged and wavy ceiling and walls of this one are lit by soft light in alternating hues of blue and green, and little sparks of orange and yellow twinkling hear and there, revealing the floors mixture of sand and tidal ripples.

But what about the girl (or guy)? Who knows. This is where the story ends for now. She could be a mermaid leading you off to the bottom of the sea, or maybe, she left you there all alone and isn't a mermaid at all? Maybe she took your wallet after you fell asleep in that cave? Maybe she does that all the time? Maybe she was never really there? I guess we'll have to wait for the album to come our before we know the rest of the story.

If Lodekka's debut EP showed there was jazz in its soul, The Get On EP reveals how much funk is in its jazz. A well-balanced blend. Jump on The Get On. It's worth it.

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