That's a purist-dream-come-true kind of record. Fertile Ground is a band with six members and their music has an overall organic/70ies soul music approach with Fender Rhodes and brass section. Which is really no bad thing if your favourite artists include Stevie, Marvin or Leon Ware you really should own a copy of Seasons Change.
Fertile Ground grab your attention right from the start with the Shaft-like intro Rise which turns then into the wonderful Freedom with it's conscious lyrics that fits perfectly to the musical background of 70ies soul ('See I may not know the color/ of the man on Mars but brothah/ I can tell you why the caged bird sings/ No matter what the weather brings...Now, I cant't fight no wars for money/ Ego or Pride/ I pray one day/ Love becomes the bullet/ That just blows the world apart/ And we say Freedom').
The title track Seasons Change is another pleasant gem in the same ilk like Freedom.
And to keep things interesting we also get some more modern songs like Like Poetry (with some rapping by Olu Butterfly and the Peom-cees, since I don't like rapping it's a more avarage song to me), the ragga-influenced Culture Band-Its (which is, er, interesting but not really my cup of tea, either, although I like the lyrics: 'I'm sick and tired of listening I'm uninspired by the music that I'm hearing on the radio station/ No it doesn't move me in fact, it just passes through me'), the more uptempo Illumination or the funky One Mo Gin.
As all of this wouldn't be enough there's also More To Life with Maysa on co-lead vocals together with Fertile Grounds' own wonderful Navasha Daya. The strong ballads I Remember You, Come 2 Me and Star People are saved for the end of the album. I especially like I Remember You with it's sparse background of bass, drums, muted trumpet and some percussion and the even less instrumented Star People that's just Navasha on vocals and James Collins on piano and keys.
All in all not only a very good album, but a great one. Everybody should have one, so make sure you get your copy soon!