Reverence by Faithless

1996

I’ve spent most of the past two days watching football on TV. A good win for Brighton on Boxing Day cheered me up a lot and Crystal Palace losing, having had two men sent off, made the day even better. There’s a lot of nonsense talked about the rivalry between Brighton and Palace and, laughably, it’s sometimes called the A23 derby. It all started with a disagreement between the managers, Terry Venables and Alan Mullery. It’s too trivial to go into here but, suffice to say, the normal relaxed, friendly atmosphere at the Amex completely disappears when the “derby” takes place. Civilised, sensible, sport-loving fans are replaced by stupid, ignorant idiots. I prefer not to go to these games.

My dislike of Crystal Palace has nothing to do with grown men throwing loose change at each other but stems from going to Selhurst Park (the home ground of Crystal Palace) over the Christmas period in days gone by with my Dad and my brother-in-law. The rationale for these feelings are no more sophisticated than those described earlier. It’s very unfair of me to say that I have few happy memories of these games because my very kind brother-in-law used to go to a lot of trouble on many Boxing Days to arrange things for my Dad and me. He used to be a Palace season ticket holder and was very pleased to make things as easy for us as possible. And yet I remain ungrateful.

For the second Christmas running, Roo and I have spent an extended period of time over Christmas in isolation. Last year, I was determined not to catch COVID prior to my hip operation. This year, we both have COVID. With friends and family getting together without us, I am feeling frustrated and jealous and my thoughts are turning to my parents. Yesterday, I recalled my Dad bringing home copies of “Rolling Stone”and complaining about photos of effeminate men in adverts. Today, thinking about Crystal Palace, I have a very clear picture of him suffering the sound of very loud pre-match music being blasted out of speakers just above our heads. There was no enjoyment and I felt guilty for suggesting we even go to the games in the first place.

Watching “Match Of The Day” this morning, and taking a particular pleasure in Palace’s defeat, I was simultaneously saddened and impressed to see the crowd give sustained applause during the 65th minute. The commentator explained that this was to acknowledge the death and honour the life of Maxi Jazz, who died four days ago, aged 65. He had supported Crystal Palace all his life and, ten years ago, he became an associate director.

I know very little about Faithless but I did know that Jamie Catto was a founding member and he made one fantastic album with Duncan Bridgeman called “1 Giant Leap” as well as two astonishing DVDs under the same moniker. All the 1 Giant Leap projects celebrated music from around the world and posed thoughtful questions about the human condition and the purpose of living.

Faithless were formed in 1995 by Sister Bliss, Rollo and Maxi Jazz, along with Jamie Catto.

Ayalah Deborah Bentovim (Sister Bliss) is a multi instrumentalist whose musical pedigree, collaborations and achievements are too numerous to detail here. For example, she has remixed songs for Moby, collaborated with Robert Smith and presents a weekly radio programme.

Rowland Constantine O’Malley Armstrong (Rollo) is also a multi instrumentalist and is the older brother of Dido, for whom he has undertaken much production work. He composed the official theme music for two football competitions: Euro 2008 and Euro 2012.

Maxwell Fraser (Maxi Jazz) was the leading vocalist, songwriter and guitarist for Faithless. The lyrical content of his songs is often political. “Baseball Cap” sounds like it might be a trivial, comic song about a baseball cap but it is a hugely entertaining and serious song about not escalating a small issue into something deadly. A 14 year old has his baseball cap snatched from his head and he is so angry, he is thinking of retribution until his uncle begs him to cool it. The boy recognises the love that his uncle had for him and learns to treasure that love more highly than his cap. I’m not normally a fan of hip-hop but this is a really excellent, emotional song.

Not all of “Irreverance” can be categorised as hip-hop. There are elements of classical music, folk and house music. “Don’t Leave” could be described as gospel or soul. Jamie Catto is the lead singer, whilst Dido and Pauline Taylor provide backup vocals. It’s a lovely song about the end of a relationship with a reference to “My Old Man” from “Blue” by Joni Mitchell.

“Salva Mea” ( which is Latin for “save me”) is over ten minutes long (although the single version is shorter) and features vocals by Dido. This was the first song that Faithless recorded. It was a big dance floor hit which reached Number Nine in the U.K. Charts. Lyrically, it is a song of introspection, regret and confusion. The singer is stuck in a lifestyle of booze and pills but “just below my skin, I’m screaming”. I’ve never taken ecstasy and I’ve only ever once been to a club playing house music with strobe lights and a full dance floor but if I had been born 30 years later, I’m sure that some of the best moments of my life would have been soundtracked by the genuinely exciting “Salva Mea”.

“Insomnia” was also released as a single, reaching Number Three in the U.K. Charts. Maxi Jazz raps about how it is the middle of the night, he is unable to sleep, mainly because of the drugs he has taken. The album version is nearly nine minutes long and is a melodic, but frantic, description of a confused, sleep-deprived state of mind set to a complicated, catchy dance-friendly melody. It’s astonishing.

Faithless released seven studio albums. “Reverence” was their first and their last, “All Blessed” was released in 2020 after a ten year gap.

Maxi Jazz died peacefully last week.