Well, hello and happy new year. It's been a while since my last post. But after submitting my dissertation, finishing university and adjusting to the world outside the library doors, it's great to be back here, writing again. In the time since my last post, I've done a lot of recommending. People have asked me what my favourite albums have been or what songs fit the certain tone of a playlist they're making. Hearing a new album, song or genre for the first time is one of the most joyous aspects of music to me, whether that's me listening to something new or a friend reacting to a track I've sent them. With that in mind, I wanted to briefly review five albums that skipped radio play, missed your Spotify homepage or got trampled under all the Sunday Service videos.
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana
Since its early days, rap has had a thing for MC-Producer duos. Pioneers like Eric B & Rakim, DJ Premier & Guru and Pharrell Williams & Chad Hugo have left an undeniable legacy in their discographies that many of today's rappers find influential. While the genre has changed since then, that relationship remained integral for Madlib (Madvillainy, Shades Of Blue) & Freddie Gibbs (Shadow of a Doubt, Freddie). Their 2014 joint album Piñata, fuelled by Madlib's sublime sample-oriented production and driven by Gibbs' bars surrounding drug dealing, gave rap's old school style a fresh coat of paint. The album was well-received and praised by some as the best rap albums of the year and by others as the greatest one of all-time. As such, hype was abundant when they announced it's follow-up, Bandana. While it's the second in an apparent trilogy, Bandana doesn't feel as much like a sequel to Piñata as it does an expansion. Its production transcends beyond Madlib's sample-heavy sound as he moves into beats oriented around trap and R&B, while still bringing in a range of vintage samples from reggae, funk and jazz. Gibbs similarly expends his abilities as an MC; experimenting with new flows, comedic wordplay and singing on the album's closing tracks "Gat Damn" and "Soul Right". This newfound eclectic style from Freddie feels fresh without feeling too distant from what we expect of him, it also lets him carry his weight alongside colossal verses from Pusha T, Yasiin Bey and Black Thought across the album. Bandana isn't only a worthy successor to the 'MadGibbs' sound that Piñata set to build, but a rap album that pays tribute to the music that inspired it and looks forward to the music it could influence in the future.
Kelsey Lu - Blood
Before his recent comeback to the electronic dance scene alongside Boys Noize, dubstep's protégé Skrillex lent his production skills to a range of artists. While producing for chart-toppers like Ed Sheeran and Swae Lee, he also worked to get newer artists in the limelight, one of whom was singer/songwriter, producer (and cellist) Kelsey Lu. Her debut album Blood doesn't occupy a single genre, but takes elements from a range of genres, working them into her own sound. In Blood we hear sublime cues from the organic sounds of Björk's recent work and hints of the melancholy typified by Lana Del Rey. Although much like a James Blake record, the album's best moments come when Lu is able to build on these styles. The first shift occurs when "Due West" smoothly blends into "KINDRED I", the first of Blood's two ambient interludes. Despite being one of the shortest tracks on the album, it's one of the best in building the atmosphere the album retains throughout. Its deep minimalistic textures resemble the ones that appear on "Foreign Car" and its hypnotic looped guitar melody are familiar to the looping strings of "Down2ridE". Lu similarly comes into her own when skirting around the idea of a fixed genre with "Poor Fake", a more upbeat take from the album that fits closer to what we expect from the pop genre, but also fits in a array of strings and a spoken word interlude, again reworking the genre to her own needs instead of the other way around. With her debut album, Lu has both managed to carve her own, unique sound in a genre where, sometimes, even the biggest acts can fail to do so.
Blood Orange - Angel's Pulse
It's no secret that 2018 was a spectacular year for rap, with new releases from Kanye West, Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky. While the latter released to lukewarm reviews, one track stood out to me and kept standing for quite some time. It was called "Hun43rd", rapped by A$AP Rocky featuring Dev Hynes. The New York-based British artist produced the song, helped write it and lent his serene vocals to its chorus. After learning more about Hynes, the thought of going through his solo discography became irresistible. His fourth album Negro Swan, also released last year, blew me away. Its callbacks to J Dilla, eclectic take on the R&B genre and unique use of features create a maximalist soundscape threaded with personality; existing sonically in a space somewhere between My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Blonde. Yes. It's that good. Many agreed that Negro Swan was Hynes' best work, and would finally allow the world to recognise his talent. Upon announcing Angel's Pulse, I was excited to see where Hynes could take his sound next.
In short; if Negro Swan was Hynes' Blonde, then this album is his Endless, where he takes a more left-field approach in production. Across the album, production takes a minimalistic turn but it's Hynes' subversive approach to minimalism that gives it flair. "Something To Do" only uses an electric guitar, but by layering two synchronised solos on top of more passive chords, he creates a progressive, psychedelic piece that makes its point in less than a minute. This theme of subversion continues through the album particularly in "Seven Hours Part 1" and "Take It Back". The former sees Hynes transform the drum pattern from Negro Swan's soulful lead single "Saint" into a constrained beat loop that lets BennY RevivaL's feature shine. Similarly with "Take It Back", we find that same variety through the tracks features. The track features Justine Skye, Arca and JOBA (from Brockhampton). Arca's beautifully operatic verse, sung entirely in Spanish, seamlessly blends with the beat. JOBA, on the other hand, provides an aggressive, abrasive rap verse that is a world apart from Arca's verse but fits just as well in the track as a whole. Angel's Pulse sees Blood Orange take a new direction, one that further proves his talent in production, songwriting and feature curation.
Solange - When I Get Home
To me, Solange occupies the same space in music as Earl Sweatshirt. Both closely followed in the footsteps of a similar artist with global success, yet both have a similar cult following and unconventional approach when it comes to their music. We know this of Earl particularly as being one of a select few rappers to spread darker themes of depression, grief and drug addiction throughout his discography as opposed to a few tracks. While Solange strays away from these topics for more empowering ones, her music also separates itself from the grandiose nature of a Beyoncé release for a more low-key sound. It's these two ideas that reside in When I Get Home, Solange's fourth studio album. The album taps into that same mellow niche of R&B so well-crafted by Solange in her previous works, although where the album really shines is its collaborators. Through the album, Solange curates a lineup of some of the most significant black artists of the past decade. Playboi Carti gets a verse on "Almeda", Earl Sweatshirt helps produce the outro to "Dreams", Tyler, The Creator and Pharrell both pop up in a few songs on production and vocals and even Gucci Mane gets in on the fun in "My Skin, My Logo".
While this list seems sparse they all surprisingly manage to fit in and help build the albums personality. Including Gucci and Carti on the album also helps reinforce the album's key theme, her pride as a black Houstonian artist. While this is told through the lyrics and features, it's also understood through the album's various interludes. These interludes are narrated by African-American women that Solange grew up with, but feel more like you're listening in on a casual conversation between them - much like Solange would have done growing up. It's this causality that is also prevalent through the album, like when Solange laughs in "My Skin, My Logo" when borrowing Gucci Mane's flow. Overall, When I Get Home is an album with a lot of personality and pride. It curates a line-up reflective of the astounding music we've got in this generation from the African-American community and makes for one of the most laid-back albums of the year. After a summer stint headlining festivals worldwide, Solange is having her Beyoncé moment, I'd love to see how she brings her style to other artists as her features on this album did.
So there you have it. Some new music that'll be good to your earhole. Add them to your playlists and let me know what you think. Now that I have a life again, I'll hopefully post more regularly. I've listened to a lot, watched a bunch and been to a few great concerts recently so I'm not short of writing ideas yet! See you back here soon.