Mamas Gun, the funked-up five-piece fronted by singer/composer/producer/designer Andy Platts, release their new single Wishing on February 28th. This stunning Hall and Oates-tinged masterstroke (incidentally, in recent years, Platt has worked with the latter) features on the ‘deluxe’ version of the band’s debut album ‘Routes To Riches’ which was co-produced by Julian Simmons (Guillemots), mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Jack Joseph Puig (Black Eyed Peas, U2, the Rolling Stones) and mastered by the equally notable Bob Ludwig. It will be released as a double A-side along with another track lifted from the album, the delightfully dirty, ‘Grove is in the heart’ vibe ‘Finger On It’.

Here’s the rather majestic video from Mama’s Gun – the single will be out September 28th

One of the UK’s most exciting live bands are about to make one of 2009’s hottest album debuts. Mamas Gun, the five-piece fronted by singer/composer/producer/designer Andy Platts, will release their superb first album ‘Routes To Riches’ on September 28th, previewed by the single ‘You Are The Music’ on September 28.

Both are on their Candelion label, underwritten in a groundbreaking “business angel” deal by investment company Icebreaker/Shamrock Solutions. Fuelled by heavyweight media momentum which included a month on the BBC Radio 2 playlist for the 2008 single ‘Pots Of Gold’, the band release ‘Routes To Riches’ to great expectations, and it fulfils all the promise of their superb live show.

Mamas Gun have got soul — but they’ve also got pop, jazz, funk, blues and rock, and the album delivers on all fronts. Together in this five-piece line-up for two years and taking their name from an Erykah Badu album, Mamas Gun are already knocking out five-figure festival crowds in Europe. ‘Routes To Riches’ is predominantly written by Platts, who co-produced it with Julian Simmons (Guillemots), and takes inspiration from the best contemporary and classic artists, but with a style that’s completely theirs. It was mixed in Los Angeles by Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Jack Joseph Puig (Black Eyed Peas, U2, the Rolling Stones) and mastered by the equally notable Bob Ludwig.

The hook-laden single ‘You Are The Music’ evokes the Average White Band at their blue-eyed-soul best, while ‘House On A Hill’ is a summer breeze of pop positivity, ‘Chasing Down Shadows’ is a heavy-duty soul ballad to rank with the best and tracks like ‘Finger On It’ and ‘Bitch’ are dripping with delightfully dirty funk. Their sense of musical adventure, reinforced by the spirit of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and acid jazz, screams out of the grooves.

Platts, born in a military hospital in Kowloon, Hong Kong, learned his chops at Liverpool’s LIPA institute and played on Corinne Bailey Rae’s hugely successful debut album and, in 2006, landed a publishing deal with Zomba Music, leading to writing sessions with such giants as Rod ‘Thriller’ Temperton, John Oates and former Gil Scott-Heron collaborator Brian Jackson. Mamas Gun is the band Platts always wanted to front, underpinned by a brilliant band of musicians with worldwide experience.

“Hopefully when you listen to the album, it’s a kaleidoscope of a record that travels through genres and isn’t tied down by anything,” explains Platts. “It’s just about good songs and a bunch of guys enjoying themselves playing it. It’s not trying to be anything, it just is.”