8/10
Twilight Muse’s latest offering 'Collabs: Live at Garcia’s at The Cap' channels the fire of a band in full flight, joined by legends, and driven by the rush of musical risk-taking.
From the outset, it’s clear this isn’t your typical live album. This is a celebration of what happens when seasoned players meet in a sacred space, throw out the script, and let the music write its own story. The first taste 'Living for the City' featuring Robert Randolph and G. Love, takes Stevie Wonder’s socially-charged classic and transforms it into a volcanic jam session. Randolph’s pedal steel lines spiral upward like fireworks while G. Love throws gasoline on the blaze with gritty harmonica. It’s part tribute, part transformation, all adrenaline.
Then there’s 'The Mayor', a horn-heavy, groove-soaked original that plants its roots in classic New Orleans funk. With George Porter Jr. on bass—yes, that George Porter Jr.—Twilight Muse doesn’t just pay homage to the legacy of The Meters; they ride that lineage into their own sonic evolution. The result? A head-nodder with swagger and soul, marking a notable shift from their debut.
Garcia’s at The Capitol Theatre provides the perfect setting for this type of alchemy. It’s intimate, revered, and packed with the kind of energy only a room steeped in history can provide. You can feel that weight through every moment on this record.
Twilight Muse have always danced between genres, from indie-rock to soul to funk and back again. But Collabs proves they’re truly living in these grooves, breathing new life into old sounds and making them their own.