If you’re a legendary aging rock star who has fallen out with his band mates… or a talented soul singer whose career has taken a nose-dive… or a thoroughbred reggae artist who produced an amazing album a few years ago but hasn’t been able to follow it up… or if your band was a huge in the 80’s but your band mate’s fabulous solo career has left you kicking stones… Fear not. It’s time to throw the dice and try something crazy.

That’s what Mick Jagger, Damian Marley, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart and Indian composer A.R. Rahman have done. They’re all in a band called SuperHeavy. They should have called it Motley Crew but it was taken apparently. The music is as diverse as the musical backgrounds of its members, with reggae, soul, Indian orchestral string arrangements and of course Jagger’s inimitable vocal stylings all being tossed into the brew.

Mick Jagger hasn’t really been himself since the eighties. To be fair, it must be exhausting waking up in the morning, looking in the mirror and thinking, “Okay, here goes, another day being Mick Jagger.” Especially when Keith Richards is looked upon as an international treasure and is writing memoirs telling the world what a “tiny todger” you have. Yet somehow Mick seems liberated in his roll as the mad great uncle in the band. It is worth checking out the video for the single Miracle Worker. Mick truly knocks it out the park when he appears in his pink suit and belts out the lines “There’s nothing wrong with you that I can’t fix, I come a running with my little bag of tricks…” The guy is pushing 70, and looks a little scary to be honest, but he still sings like a legend – the definition of a cool voice. Not a technical master, just fucking cool sounding. And let’s not forget those moves…

Somehow, in this guise, Mick’s not grasping for his title as a rock god, as he seems to be in the Stones. He’s just a legend, and there’s nothing to prove. Maybe he feels threatened by Keith or something, whereas here he’s just chilling, “passing frontman duties around like a spliff” as they wrote in Rolling Stone magazine.

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Then there’s Damian Marley, son of Bob and arguably his most talented offspring. If you haven’t heard Welcome To Jamrock, I would strongly urge you to purchase said album at your earliest convenience. In many ways Marley is the secret ingredient here, adding a much needed dose of authentic reggae culture and relevance to the group.

As for Joss Stone, I thought she was going to be a super cool artist when she first appeared with her debut, the boringly titled Soul Sessions, where she did a great cover of Fell In Love With A Girl (Boy in her case) by the White Stripes – produced by Questlove, the mastermind/drummer of the Roots. Then she got a bit annoying with the whole soul diva schtick.

Dave Stewart, who apparently put SuperHeavy together, also created Eurythmics, who were very good at what they did once upon a time. Apparently he was inspired by the sounds washing into his home in St Ann’s, Jamaica. Finally, just to add a bit of spice, the band includes A.R. Rahman, an Indian composer who has scored Bollywood films, is a singer songwriter and producer and is responsible for all the exotic string arrangements that are mixed in with all the soul infused reggae.

So it’s a mad mix of credible people and sounds. They’ve pretty much thrown anything and everything at it and seen what sticks. It’s totally unpredictable music and what’s brilliant about SuperHeavy is that they don’t fall into the trap that most super-groups do, where it’s more about who is in the band than the music they’re making. Much of the album is reggae, mixed with soul, mixed with exotic string arrangement, with some rock n’ roll infused with ganja smoke and a spot of black magic. It doesn’t follow any rules and is highly experimental, but it’s also not messing around, the beats are strong, the music is driving. It’s upbeat and confident. Which may be what’s so invigorating about it, both for the musicians and the listener. They’ve all thrown away their baggage and started from scratch, even Mick Jagger! It’s like the Queen of England going, “I’m tired of being the Queen, I’m going to try something completely different.”

Granted, some of the songs sound a bit unresolved, but overall, it’s a heady, exotic mix and, above all, it’s fun. SuperHeavy is irie.

[Buy the album online, here]