THE last time brothers Quino and James McWhinney recorded songs in Jamaica, their band Big Mountain were working on the follow-up to their 1994 breakthrough album, Unity .

They are back at Anchor studios where Resistance, that album, was recorded. Delroy “Fatta” Pottinger, engineer for those sessions, is producer for the current songs.

Quino, guitarist and vocalist, is the older of the siblings and co-founder of the San Diego, California band. He said they are looking for “a real Jamaican roots feel” for Freedom, their next album which is scheduled for release in September.

That sound is way different from Perfect Summer, their previous album which came out in 2016.

“The last album was a very rock album, a very guitar type of album. It was an experiment we wanted to get off our chest,” Quino told the Jamaica Observer. “It was an Americana kind of reggae album.”

He and his bandmates plan to do as many as 13 songs at Anchor, including a collaboration with Michael Rose and drummer Sly Dunbar.

Big Mountain’s line-up also includes Jamaicans Paul Kastick on drums, keyboardist Richard Campbell and guitarist Audley Chisholm, and bassist Mike Ortiz. James is a percussionist and vocalist.

They are guided by Pottinger, a veteran engineer whose credentials as a producer have grown, having produced songs by elite artistes including Capleton, Half Pint, George Nooks and Sizzla.

Big Mountain was founded in 1988. That year their first album California Reggae was released. In 1994, they hit it big with their reggae cover of the Peter Frampton hit, Baby I Love Your Way, which made the Top 10 of Billboard Magazine’s pop chart.

In the last 15 years, the Southern California reggae scene has grown tremendously thanks to American bands like Rebelution and Stick Figure. James McWhinney acknowledges their success, but believes these acts lack some of reggae’s main ingredients.

“Right now, I think we are lacking a little consciousness, it’s a little washed-out. I’m concerned about the lack of consciousness and culture,” he said.