Complacency has never been part of the Sweet Coffee mindset, but Face To Face, the group’s fourth album, is more than a next step. It is a genuine leap forward.

Patrick Bruyndonx and Raffaele Brescia have been in the musical limelight for seven years now. As writers, producers and performers they have been plotting the course of an ever changing project that still retains a well-defined and recognisable continuity.

The time had come for a bold move. A memorable one. Never before has the musical diversity displayed by the group been as striking as it is on Face To Face.

Sweet Coffee has never allowed itself to be pigeonholed and has always invited diverse vocalists to colour its output, but this fourth album is a different proposition altogether.

The brain wave came after the album Naked City, when singer Bibi Diabokua announced her departure. Patrick and Raffaele decided to turn this setback into an advantage. A old dream took shape again: to assemble a unique array of golden voices to record the ultimate Sweet Coffee cd.

Face To Face was somewhat longer in the making than originally planned. The actual writing went smoothly enough, but there was also the handpicking of the appropriate vocal cords. And finally an intricate puzzle presented itself: which voice would do justice to which song?

The result was worth waiting for. Notice how See Myself In You is the ideal song for the sensuous voice of Samia Verdeyen, who makes her first reappearance since Memory Lane. Admire the powerful soul vocals of Vanessa N’Goga in Daylight and Out In The Desert. Hear how the seasoned Jacky Jones wraps herself round Where Do We Go and Survive. Admire the multi-faceted Tchaï, a lady who has won her spurs in the company of Axelle Red, Natalia and Ozark Henry. Hear her turn Beautiful People into the live favourite it has already become.

These four female voices set the tone on Face To Face. But M.I.S.T.A. is heard again on Face To Face too, together with old faithful Monday Midnight, who joins the fun on Alone, Don’t Think So and the bonus track Tomorrow. In addition there are guest vocals by Yannick ‘Maximus’ Uyttenhove, the only white voice in this exotic line-up.

The end product is the most varied Sweet Coffee cd ever. Not only because of those voices. The wealth of timbres to choose from lends convincing substance to a broader musical range. The groove tends to be heavier, the vibe deeper and the spectrum wider. Never before has a Sweet Coffee cd given such an accurate picture of the live sound of the group. Add to this the outstanding Niels Scheijvens on sax en the groovy Peter Schneider on drums and you realise that what you have coming is a pretty exciting package.

Sweet Coffee evidently needs no introduction anymore. A large audience will immediately react to the name with key words such as soul, ambience and grooves. Fans will jump up on hearing the songs from Memory Lane (2004), Perfect Storm (2005) and Naked City (2007) that have found their way to the radio: Don’t Need To, Holdin’ On, Special Kind Of Feeling, New Day, Downtown and many others.

Face To Face justifies a fresh introduction. Hear how the group explores new ground. Notice how Sweet Coffee internalises the energy from those great voices and how the group – after resounding concerts with Lionel Richie and others – appears more than ready for a larger stage.

On this fourth album Sweet Coffee looks you in the eye with more confidence than ever before.
The year is 2011. This is the group that Patrick and Raffaele had in mind back in 2003.

This is their great leap forward.
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