SXSW 2022 | MOVIE REVIEW: Letting the Music Grow Wings in "Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande"

10/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars

I first encountered the music of “nyah-rock” group Cymande (pronounced sih-MAHN-day) via their iconic “Brothers on the Slide,” as sampled by MF Doom (AKA Metal Fingers) in a hip-hop instrumental titled “Cedar.” “Cedar” is rudimentary in structure: a looping of the opening two phrases of the Cymande track showcasing the mischievous guitar riff by Patrick Patterson. It’s not a groundbreaking track in and of itself, but it showcases in essence what makes Cymande so timeless: grooves both undeniable and addictive; a headnod factor able to speak beyond its years.

Tim MacKenzie-Smith’s new documentary, Getting It Back, begins with Jim James of My Morning Jacket recalling a similar experience. He first heard Cymande as sampled on hip-hop trio Fugees’ “The Score,” and was at that point compelled to do further digging. It’s an “indirect” way of entering Cymande’s music, but it has perpetuated itself for decades now, and it is the route taken by most of us in the 21st century, as Google searches, YouTube algorithms, and comments sections expanding our scopes. If the sound unifies, speaks to the soul, and if it transcends—as has been the case with tracks like “Bra” and “Dove”—then Cymande is proof that forward-thinking listeners will naturally cultivate a respect for the past.

However you find your way to Cymande, it is clear that the guys are happy to have you along for the ride. The group disbanded in 1974 after having released three albums containing their most treasured contributions to music, but thanks to renewed appreciation for their sound amongst the Millennial generation, they reformed in 2010, and have since gone on multiple reunion tours and released a 2015 album. Getting It Back is about this revitalization; about their origins and their history, but ultimately about the variegated second life that their music has taken on as it has been shared and re-contextualized.

The history of Cymande has been replete with shifting contexts and instances of re-assessment. Its members are all expatriates from the Caribbean who immigrated to the UK at various stages of their lives. They formed in 1971, and found their sound by mashing together sounds seldom heard or appreciated in London at the time, from funk, soul, reggae, to calypso. Though they didn’t gain much traction in the UK at first, their unique mélange of sounds struck a chord in the U.S. during their first international tour, particularly in New York, where their grooves were quite naturally absorbed by the cultural milieu. As it happens, New York is also where the sampling of Cymande’s tunes began, DJ’s in the Bronx using the break in “Bra” to build “danceable funk and R&B.” These sound experimentations helped define and refine the sounds of disco and house music, and later hip-hop, which eventually brought Cymande to people like Jim James and myself.

MacKenzie-Smith connects all of these threads in consistently engaging and well-paced fashion, never letting his documentary get too hung up on any one stage of the evolution. His combining of talking head interviews, still images, and archival footage is fairly paint-by-numbers, but this serves to make Cymande more accessible, less esoteric. “It’s for the people,” their now late percussionist Pablo Gonsales repeats near the film’s end. Cymande never had the chart-topping singles or that place amongst the canon of western top-40 music, but they never indicated a preference towards remaining “underground” either. They have always aspired to universal appeal, and their embrace has always been of fans the world over.

Almost all members of the group are given a chance to speak on the journey their music has taken, offer their interpretations of the rare bird that has since sprung from their original jam sessions. They are unanimous in their wonderment, and it is a delight to see how touched and humbled they are today. Supplementing them are interviews from the tastemakers who have touted their sound across the various decades, from DJ Maseo of De La Soul, to Masta Ace, Cut Chemist, to Khruangbin. The praises these various figures offer can get a little redundant, but the re-appreciation of Cymande has always come in a repetitive format, snippets of their songs being cut and looped over and over until they ingrain and transform themselves within new minds. At the very least, Getting It Back will serve this cycle. For five decades now, this is how Cymande has persisted, and it will be how Cymande lives on.