Jah Wobble had a lot of work under his belt by the time he recorded Fly, in styles ranging from post-punk to dub to new age instrumental. As such, trying to classify his body of work wouldn't just be difficult, it would be outright foolish, and Fly itself doesn't lend itself to easy classification any more than his output as a whole. Granted, a majority of the tracks here -- all titled "Fly" followed by the track number -- fit into the danceable world-tinged style that
Wobble managed to bring to the charts more than a decade previously, on the Rising Above Bedlam album, but there's definitely more experimentation going on here than on that (admittedly commercial) release. There's a steady, if restrained, dub influence throughout, and a touch of jazz in places; even if these fit in nicely with the pan-cultural dance that fills out most of the rest of the album, Track Five -- consisting of atmospheric noises with a distorted speaking voice laid over top, bringing to mind early
Cabaret Voltaire -- makes for a pretty jarring midpoint, and one that keeps the album from slotting in nicely beside either the more commercial
Invaders of the Heart albums or the more overtly experimental releases. It does make for a very
Jah Wobble album, however. ~ Sean Carruthers