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First Listen: Phony Ppl, 'mō'zā-ik.'

Incorporating jazz, funk and bossa nova, the Brooklyn band offers a subconscious vacation for the soul.
Source: Ryan Jay

Phony Ppl has grown a lot. Three years removed from the band's last album, Yesterday's Tomorrow, the five piece has undergone a lineup change, inked a deal with 300 Entertainment and refined its genre-jumping sound. Now, the Brooklyn-based group of friends returns with mō'zā-ik.

Glimmers of jazz, funk, bossa nova and even a little kompa matched withis four years in the making. Some songs on the project were written in pieces before some were written for other acts entirely (keyboardist Aja Grant tells NPR Music that album opener "Way Too Far" was a song); and some evolved from live sets at its longstanding gig at New York's Blue Note Jazz Club. But after reaching "an invisible bar of satisfaction" for every member in their final form, all of the tracks are meant to represent Phony Ppl's artistic growth.

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