REVIEW: H.E.R. - BACK OF MY MIND

4/5

I Still Love H.E.R.

HERstory was made at the Oscar's this year when Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, AKA H.E.R. scored Academy Award gold for 'Best Song' with her track 'Fight For You' from 'Best Supporting Actor' Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield's 'Judas and the Black Messiah'. It marked a big-three, holy trinity of acclaimed accolades for some of her greatest hits as H.E.R. also took home Grammy gold for 'Song of the Year' ('I Can't Breathe') and 'Best R&B Song' ('Better Than I Imagined') to add to her trophy cabinet family. That's an Emmy and Tony away from EGOT status for a GOAT in the making who wants to act in her own 'Best Picture', not just soundtrack them. All this at age 23, the old soul who thanked her parents influence and of course “those days of listening to Sly and the Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye,” even paid tribute to her "lifetime inspiration", Prince. Dressed to impress and inspire at the Oscar's in a purple jumpsuit and cape in a same style that The Artist wore at the Academy Awards way back when I was born in 1985. When his 'Purple Rain' 'Best Original Song Score' went for gold for the man who even made 'Batman' soundtracks like Hans Zimmer. Now armed with an axe like the guitar God that she is, H.E.R. is a motherf#####g rock star on her own reign for the black and white 'Back Of My Mind'. Her part III, 21 track opus that in a scorching Summer of sound after last years 'Women In Music' only has competition from The Jezabels frontwoman Hayley Mary's 'The Drip' EP. But this extended play makes all the other LP's this week look scratched as she takes it back to the classics like Motown meets neo soul and has a baby holding six strings. Following her own volume of EP's and her self-titled debut compilation composition, (followed by the five-time Grammy nominated 'I Used To Know Her'), H.E.R is here. Having Everything Revealed for 'B.O.M.M.' that is the bomb right now hitting everything. Here she is...and there's nothing like her. 

Common can't even say 'I Used To Love H.E.R.' anymore, because Gabriella has all our hearts now. It's time to lend your ears. H.E.R. is more than hip-hop. She's an icon of genre, gravity and convention defiance. The musical family hasn't been blended this beautifully since the symbol, so you best believe she's an icon. This offical debut is the definition and music's redefinition as this will never just be in the back of our minds as Wilson takes us through the vortex of her cortex for 79 minutes. This album is so much like a movie it even came with its own epic trailer. As the lead single 'Damage' destroyed everything in its path. With H.E.R. singing along, "If you want me don't take me for granted, yeah, yeah/If I'm worth more than you could manage, baby." Then she came through with a Chris Brown collaboration to follow the platinum 'Damage' and YG assisted 'Slide' singing, "Almost missed my flight today/I look good, even though I feel s####y/I just got back out this way/You already got plans for the city/Call 'em off, could you call 'em off for me?/You're always going on and on/Got it all, ask me why I never leave/I don't go out much." But it's the latest single and 'Mind' opener 'We Made It' (sing along in chorus unison at this hook, "For all those nights hopin' that we'd find it/Lookin' at the sky, like thank God that you're with me/You're with me/Run red lights and followin' the signs/It's been a long ride and I just can't believe/Can't believe we made it."), that truly does. In this Olympic Summer this is H.E.R.'s victory lap...right out the gates. 

Ty Dolla $ign's signature ad-libs helps bank on 'B.O.M.M.'s' self-titled track being as compelling as this whole album, or the 'Ecco the Dolphin' beat sounding KATIE track Ty flew all the way to South Korea for...even the video ('Remember'). Whilst one half of the world's biggest power couple right now (shout out to Naomi Osaka...we got you here in Japan. Stay strong) Cordae brings poetry to 'Trauma'. The classic collaborations continue to 'Find A Way' with Lil' Baby, but it's the 'Bloody Waters' with contemporary jazz man Thundercat that just may be the track of this classic. It's her 'What's Going On' or 'A Change Gonna Come', as iconic as 'cat's 'Apocalypse Now' like and 'Apocalypse' following 'Drunk' submerged album cover. There hasn't been this much Thunder since this bassist woke up last year's best album 'WIMPIII' and Haim for a '3AM' remix, cue the Este face. Even the 'Paradise' with Yung Bleu is perfect. But it's when Gabriella goes it alone like on 'My Own', or 'Closer To Me' that we see the real H.E.R. 'Lucky' for us. On 'Cheat Code' she gives us the inside look on the ignorance of infidelity. Whilst she genuinely gives us true intention on 'Mean It' singing, "Maybe I should be more like you/Buildin' up on a lie, then coverin’ up the truth/Oh, I thought that ain't what you do/Tellin' me that you closed off, why did you take your clothes off?" You have to trust this 'Process' like Philly as we 'Hold On' like Game 7. 'Don't' believe H.E.R.? "Don't count on me babe" she sings in love ballad, but we really can. Don't count her out. If you're 'Exhausted' by modern love or even life these days just listen to this in twilight with the lights down low for its black and white, atmospheric aesthetic to the grey areas of our hearts and minds. It's not 'Hard To Love' and it's 'For Anyone' and everyone as she tells us all, "Looking for your sound in someone else's house/But no one sings the same way/I look for peace of mind in someone else's eyes/Guess love is really blinding me." Lasting lyrical laments for a generation that's sound needs to be taken out the clouds and into H.E.R. stratosphere. And if you want another one how about the stirring soul sample of the DJ Khaled produced 'I Can Have It All' with fellow young rhythm and blues legend Bryson Tiller? THEY the best. Like Beanie Siegel we can feel this one in the air. But no one is in this wonderful woman's atmosphere of power. When it comes to album of the year on the back end of the calendar, have this one in mind. Why? You know why! They've got nothing on H.E.R. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'We Made It', 'Trauma (Feat. Cordae)', 'Bloody Waters (Feat. Thundercat)'. 

REVIEW: HAYLEY MARY - THE DRIP EP

 

4/5

Perfume Drip

Pissing perfume since The Jezabels hiatus, who needs albums with EP's like these? On the regular too. Following last year's 'The Piss, The Perfume' extended play, Hayley Mary is already back this Summer with 'The Drip' for her musical flow that has no signs of ebbing. Even if her amazing Aussie band haven't cut a disc since 2017 (the sublime synth soaring 'Synthia'). She's riding solo like fellow countrywoman Julia Stone's 'Sixty Summers', quite possibly the album of the year. Now who could need or want for more right now coming out of the pandemic? Especially as bandmate Heather Shannon is also back with her own piano record, 'Midnight Sun' due to set in July. You can hear some 'Fragments' of this with its lead single out now. Recorded amongst the stirring peace of an Icelandic retreat. We have no doubt it will be a treat. Just like the 'Perfume' spray Hayley gave us last year that came up smelling like roses. The self-titled single. The groundbreaking 'Like A Woman Should'. The stripped down, black and white, 'Ordinary Me'. 'Holly' and 'The Brat'. That had five tracks, but now 'The Drip' drop has an extended seven seals. Releasing an EP like the Counting Crows 'Butter Miracle Suite One' on the same day South Korean pop stars BTS released a similar dairy product single spread. The 'Prisoner' on 'The Brink' is back with her best work yet. Taking the crown and sitting on a gold throne like the queen she is. All hail Mary! 

"Your attention for the moment/Your attention for the moment", Hayley demands on the opening title track that rocks out like the throwback it sounds like. Even the great St. Vincent has competition with this one. Hayley's home! "It was a dirty grey day, there was a constant drizzle/As we drank Lucozade, though it was not artisanal/Just a fizzling of orange, the drip inside of me/My friend was walking round in bare feet/Cos he’s started to use/He says there’s nothing more tragic/Than a dead person’s shoes/Now he’s wearing the crown in his own/Cashmere shanti town/Oh, you always were the clown." If this commercial co-sign that Lucozade would love to drink from for years, didn't confirm it, the spaceship signature, out of this world sound of this 'Sullen Kink' does. Showing and proving that this 'Drip' pisses all over the perfect 'Perfume'. Forget how all this smells, Mary has never sounded quite as secure as this. Now 'Would You Throw A Diamond?' Because track after track cuts through your speaker as she sings, "You spent your shattered mind at sea/You’re fighting all the lies and critters/Hidden in the honesty/You’re burning up the room/And the stars come rolling in/They’re collection the memories/That I have of you and me/I’m thinking it ain’t that hard/To f#####’ kiss you in the rain/I’ll f###### kiss you in the rain/I’m thinking it ain’t that hard/You’re like a diamond in the dirt", the punk who covered the "kiss (f###) you hard in the pouring rain", 'Born To Die' Lana Del Rey's 'Chemtrials Over The Country Club' self-titled song for the legendary Aussie 'Like A Version' for the radio record single sings. Also asking, "would you throw a lifetime away"? Not if its epic like this for this woman who doesn't let up over guitars on 'A Boy Called Rock n Roll'. Let the good times do the same. 

"Don't want to live a life alone without you boy" she yearns as out headphones will do the same as we sing in unison for the one we want like the next day we hope we see...together. "Heavy hearts" will be uplifted with this one that will sing and ring out from the fields of the next festival this powerful performer takes to the stage as our world starts to open up again in concert. This sound of the summer before an 'Unholy Winter' offers us more faith in hope before the cold coming. "What's love under the sun" she asks on an epic, euphoric track that soars like her Sydney group at the Opera House as the riffs reach realms. "Letting the good times roll" on 'Young & Stupid', Mary mothers us, "when you're young and stupid/when you're young and you think you've got time to spend/you know that's just a lie they tell." Amen. Heed this caution like there's no tomorrow. Pick up the phone. Love and live your life. Reach out to the one who gave it you first. And make it right. Because "you wouldn't think it was the last time." Then on the closing 'Chain' Mary gives us an end that evokes even more energy to come for someone who could drop an EP every year at this rate (here's hoping). Her band may be on hiatus, but she ain't stopping. "I got time, I got time, I got fevers/That could light up the night/Like the fires that burned through the season," she sings on another stellar single that lights up the world like its 4K YouTube video in all its glory. A world in need of waking up in high definition. In another tired year refreshing this season like the freshly cut grass of the maze garden sculptures playing polo. The EP of the year is anything but a drip, or even a steady Spotify stream. Running like water, this Jezabel can't be stopped. Say her name, because Hayley Mary down the river is setting sail on her own ship. And nothings going to take the wind out these harbour sails...or piss on this parade. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Sullen Kink', 'Would You Throw Away A Diamond', 'Young & Stupid'. 

REVIEW: RAHEEM DEVAUGHN & APOLLO BROWN - LOVESICK

 

4/5

Apollo Kids.

Burning purple flowers. It's burning my chest. Live at the Apollo, Raheem DeVaughn has the 'Lovesick' blues with Mr. Brown. "B.O.B. don't play Donny Hathaway/Followed by Marvin Gaye/Followed by Sade, followed by Al Green/Followed by Raheem, followed by Prince/Followed by DeBarge and MJB/And Jodeci/Pattie Labelle/Followed by The Isley's/(Maxwell)/Earth Wind and Fire/And Luther Vandross/'Cause B.O.B. can't help you take them Vicky Secrets off," DeVaughn once sang, not about the ATL 'Airplanes' rapper...but about how sex toys have nothing on him. Affectionately calling this vibrator...Bob. And I tell you, there's never been a more beautiful song wrote about a "battery operated boyfriend." Although the R&B great of Joe, Jaheim and Avant garde stature may change his mind this week if he reads the article that's doing the rounds right now about a certain device that sold out on Amazon after a customers eloquently written review went viral for the masterpiece that it and clearly this new application is. The self-dubbed Love King's 'Love Experience' has some competition now. So Washington D.C.'s Chronkite is back for a capital exclamation for this Jersey born stars neo-soul. Giving us his best work since the decade ago 2010 'Love and War MasterPeace' from Radio Raheem that was 'Bulletproof' like the wallets he filled with his lead single with Ludacris. Not to mention 'The Greatness' with Wale. 'Fragile' with Chi-town street poet, Malik Yusef. The 'Revelations' of a 2010 sample with Bob's very own Damian Marley. The Dr. Cornell West inspired interlude addresses of influence for your PSA and the epic protest march 10 years early of 'Nodody Wins A War' featuring Jill Scott, Bilal, Anthony Hamilton, Algebra, Chrisette Michele, Shelby Johnson, Ledisi, Citizen Cope, Dwele, Chico DeBarge, Rudy Currence, Guile AND Norman Lutz for the cipher of an epic neo-soul posse cut for the people. And of course, who could forget...'B.O.B.'

Now the Grammy nominated soul star follows last years 'What A Time To Be In Love' (with a mechanical man) with 'Lovesick' (2020 was a hell of a year). Recruiting super producer Apollo Brown for more 'Love Behind The Melody'. The Detroit, Michigan piston of an assembly lines producer like the Palace Of Auburn Hills is part of the Ugly Boys hip-hop collective, but he brings beauty to the love of Raheem's work like the pink flower that opens like a lotus in the rain that falls like tears for some iconic album artwork that is the hallmark of a classic record. 'Lovesick' will have you jonesin' for the one you want, need, or lost like the one that got away. 'Sincerely, Detroit' like Mark Wahlberg coming home and driving through the tundra of a frozen city like a Ford factory to Marvin Gaye's 'Trouble Man' for the late, great, John Singleton's 'Four Brothers' (featuring Tyree, Garrett Hedlund and Andre 3000...not to mention a scene stealing Terrence Howard), this producer has worked with the legendary likes of Guilty Simpson, O.C., Ras Kass, Skyzoo and Planet Asia, but this is his most classic collaboration yet...and it shows. Right away in the opener, 'If You're The One', actually featuring Skyzoo. Setting the 'Lovesick' LP off right with lines like, "Excuse me miss, I've been checking for you/Are you the shy type?/What type of food you like?/Do you like the blue-collar guys? Or thе hood type?/What you sipping tonight, baby, you're the onе/What's your favorite book? Let's talk intellect?/Hey, what's your wait time for the first time we're having sex/Do you believe in God? Biblicly?/Would you play with me, before you lay with me, girl?" This could even take 50 Cent's '21 Questions' to task. Damn Ne-Yo and soul this is so sick. 

Modern Motown mining with Detroit's very own star of the future like Jerami Grant the legend to come hits the dusty plum 'One Time' with Becky Cane. All before showing you what it's like 'When A Man' loves his girl. Catering to you like polished silver service and "Shopping sprees/Well, a man's supposed to keep you pampered, yee/Toss you a brand new key to a ride parked outside/Just 'cause, when you ain't even ask him, yeah/(Hey, look here)/I'm the type to run your bath water/Ooh, I'm the type to rub your feet, baby/(I'm the type to rub your feet), yeah/I'm the type to cook a home cooked meal for ya, sugar (Ooh)/And break you off with Babyface, whip appeal." DeVaughn keeps that notion of devotion going on 'Just Fall In Love' with a Westside Boogie. Whilst Apollo's aesthetic of perfect production is instrumental in picking up the 'Broken Pieces' and putting back together 'I Still Love You' like a Ginuwine genuine soul staple from the man whose a halfway house between Maxwell and Musiq Soulchild. It's the smooth like Jessica Alba and Mekhi Phifer 'Honey' that flows like butter left out the fridge overnight in a time and month of Counting Crows EP's and BTS single spreads. But it's 'Zaddy' that's the daddy on this upstairs music from the 'Bedroom' music maker. 3D Na'Tee joins this mean age as Raheem dreams up love lyrics like "Locked up in your sanctuary/Kissing all up on your skin/And it feels so far from temporary." Just call him zaddy. And then 'Rick James' comes into play for the aura of a song that hits you like UNITY to the forehead that's a hell of a musical drug. And if you're listening to this one with the one you love say on the couch...well you know what comes next like grinding mud. Buy this album you righ motherf#####s! Because Radio Raheem has given you another one like Khaled with his new DJ Brown. He's 'On Top' of everything like you know what with this suggestive soul. And in closing the parting kiss of 'Everything Baby' is roses to the competition and all for the one ("See, first came thunder, them came lightning/Something electric, something exciting/A feeling of love and joy/That I've never felt before/You are everything to me.")  and these dozen delightful tracks. We hope this isn't a one album stand and these two get together again. Because if you're sick of love, then Raheem DeVaughn and Apollo Brown have the medicine. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Honey', 'Zaddy', 'Rick James'. 

REVIEW: LLOYD BANKS-THE COURSE OF THE INEVITABLE

3/5

The Hunger For Even More.

Nelly on 'Another One' like DJ Khaled once rapped, "I should move to Bel-Air the way I fill-up banks." Damn! That rap wasn't filthy rich..."but it could use a bath." The only thing hotter in heere than 'Pimp Juice' moving units in the 2000's was 50 Cent and G-Unit. Now forget that line for a second, the punchline king and former second in command to Curtis Jackson's Aftermath (even when The Game came) shares his name with an actual bank in the UK (Lloyds Bank...just switch the 's'). That's building society big. More M's than millions, the Prodigy (Rest Peacefully) dubbed, "Billionaire Budget Jackson" even brought legends Mobb Deep, M.O.P. AND Ma$e across the pond to England once for a massive tour that was meant to feature Eminem and D12, until Marshall Mathers' best friend and right hand man Proof was tragically killed in Detroit. In the former M.E.N. Manchester Arena 50 brought the house down like dropping dimes before putting a cassette in a tape deck. The only one not in attendance was a house arrest, passport surrendered Tony Yayo (his Proof). Then after showing he was so fly, Lloyd had to bank on calling it a night after becoming so sick like Ne-Yo...literally with food poisoning like a MJ flu game. Seriously there's nothing quite as gangster as hearing, "Lloyd Banks will not be returning to the stage...he has an upset stomach." But hey, what can we say. His stomach was 'On Fire' ("what you say?"). There's a lot of bad pizza in Manchester. Just memories of the good ole days and a hunger were this time Banks didn't want more like Oliver, "please sir". It's been too long like blowing birthdays instead of cake, but now he's back for some post-90's rap reminiscent nostalgia like reading Vibe and XXL between college classes.

G-Unit may not be getting thrown up anymore like stuttering on the G, but Banks still has 'The Hunger For More' like his classic or the 'H.M.F. 2' sequel after getting into the 'Rotten Apple' of being one of New York's finest. All for his fourth album and first for Apple Music and in a decade and one years change, 'The Course Of The Inevitable'. Why so long you ask? Despite the briefest of those inevitable rap retirements like 'The Black Album'. No one in this game fades to black. Ignited by the lead track 'Propane' that sets the roof on fire again. Nah, he aint putting nothing out on the 'Sidewalks' he strolls like the black and white artwork, hand-in-hand with his son. This is as street as the dreams Nas used to have with a NY state of mind and firm Dre like piano. On 'Empathy' he has none for the competition rapping, "from here on out its independent, f### what the labels are offering." On the 'Early Exit' with Roc Marci and smooth soul samples Banks goes even deeper, before giving you 'Formaldehyde' with Benny The Butcher. "Every song is a homicide/My breath of fresh air is formaldehyde/Just let the album ride/I'm back in the zone in 2009 (oops)/You're in the browsing lines," he raps, terminating everything on site that begs for mercy like 'Poppin' Them Thangs'. "I'm about a buck" he says on the chorus like Jay-Z once rapped on 'It's Hot' ("I'm about a dollar, what the f### is 50 Cents?"). Some like it hot like Marylin Monroe. We wonder what's good with Banks and the man who put him on as Curtis compares him to an "estranged son". On 'Death By Design' Lloyd warns, "money don't make the man, but you better make you some/Envy hides behind compliments so watch who you take them from." manifesting his own destiny that's not ready to die like B.I.G. "My zodiacs a dollar sign" he says for those who "thought (his) first was a fluke." "Red circles middle of white tees that looks Japan", he says offering another Notorious warning...to those trying to stick them for the paper of his rhyme book. They've got a red dot on their head too like as he said on the Biggie 'Victory' remix, "it was part of your religion" (his words...not mine). "I give a f### about your Instagram/I give a f### about your Twitter/Don't follow me you see me in the streets n###," he tells Gen Z on the 'Food' with Styles P (thanks for the Christmas Cameo by way of G, Ghost. I love you too) of The Lox. "You've got something to say to (him) tell (his) secretary". All before taking the 'Crown' like the lyrical King of NY he still is. Watch the new underground throne.

Heavy is the head on the 'Falsified' note with Ransom who himself warns of the "carnivores in the corner stores". The slow flow of 'Break Me Down' breaks down the industry into exactly what it is as Banks saves his best lines for this, "the devil want to take.me.down/But I can't let him break.me.down/I can't make no mistakes.he's.round/Feel like I'm going.cray.now/I'm paranoid late-ly.now/Feels like nothing can.make.me.smile/I know they want to break.me.down/Everyone in.my.face.seems.foul." On 'Commitment' he wants to see you 'Smile' again like wanting to get to know R&B ballads, riding with rhythm and blues soprano Joe. "It's time we have a talk about commitment/I thought with that everything would be different/I'm trying to lead you in direction/I thought if I gave you space things would get better but they didn't/The line between reality you gotta know the difference/Important you separate what is from what isn't/There'll never be progress if there's no room to listen." Now if that doesn't sound like real talk then YOU must not be listening. There's more 'Pressure, Pain (and) Paranoia' for this man who is mining diamonds as he realizes, "n####s show you their colours as soon as you flip the Rubix," "in this world were they love to build and destroy." Dialling it to eleven on the unlucky for some track 13, 'Stranger Things', this friend doesn't lie with bars of truth that turns the game upside down like those Indiana Fever Nike 'Rebel' jerseys for the WNBA's 25th anniversary. He keeps it riding on 'Drop 5' before having 'Panic' with Sy Ari Da Kid and his classic chorus. "Evil will look you right in your face scarred if you lock eyes/Misery is a long ride that carbon monoxide." Through the 'Smoke and Mirrors' of who's family and what's fake, separating what's real, Banks breaks it down, "things aint always what they seem/You claim to be family stay that way no give a  f###s in-between/Don't know what you're out there looking for they put me here to be king/Got to be more then a shoulder for you to lean/Things aint always what they seem/You claim to be family stay that way no give a f###'s in-between/Queens." On the penultimate 21 gun 'Saw', 'Spiral' savage salute with Vado and a 'Dishonourable Discharge' this soldier lets them things go over good doctor prescribed like keys. In this likes over currency world of social media coin, "attention's the strongest drug known to man." "Are you the type", Banks challenges the IG following crowd. All before the album abbreviated titled closer of 'COTI' that finishes everything and everybody off. "Take a walk through my catalogue that no one helped design/Just when you thought you finally clipped my wings you helped me to fly," he not so subtlety and cryptically raps in the final cipher before cut. "The streets don't show love and get in to it don't make you a boss/There's no remorse/The terms of the inevitable course/Don't follow nobody else's, figure out which path is yours/'Cause lights go off/And I pray to God I never get lost/They always watching, pretending they want you winning of course/They want the torch/The terms of the inevitable course/All I got is my words and principles I never cross/Can't get knocked off/The terms of the inevitable course", this wise and weary wordsmith concludes in circling couplets for this street poets lyrical laments of pure and uncut rhymes. We live in a time in this unforgiving genre and industry, let alone entertainment business and world were we don't know what we got until it's Janet Jackson and Q-Tip sampling Joni gone. Like Black Rob. Like DMX. Just to name a few. But at least Lloyd Banks and Earl Simmons got to squash their beef before the 'Exodus'. Now let's celebrate a modern great whilst he's still in his prime of life. When it comes to COTI it's good to have Lloyd back. Bank on it. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Propane', 'Break Me Down', 'Commitment'. 

REVIEW: WOLF ALICE: BLUE WEEKEND

 4/5

Alice In Weekendland.

Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend like a Daniel Craig 'Saturday Night Live' meme. Alice, Wolf Alice are here for the wonderland that is a 'Blue Weekend'. The foggy, Big Smoke London act back with their own grammar. Waiting at the 80's alien illuminated bus stop like a 'Stranger Things' time on the mist of another night in quarantine. You wait all day and then two come along all at once. The latest London Grammar, 'California Soil' may be a classic soul, but the indie Alice keeps it in the rabbit hole of home. And how this wolf howls into the thunder of the night. This alternative rock act became the best of British thanks to some classics for this generation. After starting out as an acoustic duo, Ellie Rowsell and her indie darlings released a series of EP's (a self-tiled debut, 'Blush' and some 'Creature Songs') to 'Fluffy' fame and acclaim. Then came the amazing albums. 2015's 'My Love Is Cool' bros. Featuring a 'Moaning Lisa Smile' and a track for 'T2's' (still sounds like a 'Terminator' sequel baby) 'Trainspotting' sequel (the smooth 'Silk'). Followed by the sophomore soaring, 'Visions Of A Life' that changed theirs. Making more end of the year lists then Grammys, Oscars, BAFTA's and Emmy's combined for these toasts of the BRITS. The unconventional beauty of the rising Mercury award winner could never delete the kisses for 'Sadboys' in this 'Heavenward', 'Space and Time'. But now following that coming of age portrait like the classic album artwork striking a ballerina pose, there is no more shoegazing. Almost a half decade later the punk rock, dream pop, grunge, psychedelia, folk, space rock, synth-pop, hardcore and electronica act may have released their best work yet this weekend. Our time is blue like Joni or South Korean alt-pop artist KATIE...and we couldn't feel better. Even in these love in times of corona years.

Third time is the charm blue, even if right now in this planets pandemic you may feel like 'The Last Man On Earth'. That lead single is otherworldly though. Rowsell singing in chorus," And every book you take/And you dust off from the shelf/Has lines between lines between lines/That you read about yourself/But does a light shine on you?/And when your friends are talking/You hardly hear a word/You were the first person herе/And the last man on the Earth/But does a light shinе on you?" Alienating narcissists from their own delusions of grandeur. But it's 'The Beach' that opens things like the white soil of a Danny Boyle classic movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Alice's Ellie sings, "When will we three meet again?/In thunder, lightning, in rain/Still sink our drinks like every weekend/But I'm sick of circling the drain (drain, drain, drain)" through the sands of time were we are still kept at a social distance from drinking with each other, even if pubs have reopened. Spiralling out of control were we all need that human touch like John Mayer channelling Springsteen in the 80's for the 'Sob Rock' of his 'Last Train Home'. But like 'The River' of those tones being the song of the summer, this has the haze to be one of the albums of the calendar. Right on the money of the same new music Friday, release date weekend that the mellow yellow 'Jubilee' of Japanese Breakfast's best yet is set to make this one hot Summer like Florida orange for the South Korean born, Asian American sensation. On the 'Smile' of a second single, Wolf Alice stirs the soul even more. Lamenting with lyrics like, "I ain't afraid, though my steps appear tentative/I scope it out, then I throw myself into it/I ain't ashamed in the fact that I'm sensitive/I believe that it is the perfect adjective". A musical sedative to your anxious nights as poetic as the harmony of the "ah, ah's" you will sing along to in solidarity unison. 'How Can I Make It Ok' they ask on their latest single with genuine feeling. Well, with honest and heartfelt albums like this and the single that leaves you with 'No Hard Feelings' for these hard times singing, "No hard feelings, honey/There'll be no bad blood/Losing your love has been hard enough/Life can be short, but life can be sweet/No hard feelings, honey", The next time we meet." Even if we are "cryin' in the bathtub" to the late, great Amy Winehouse's 'Love Is A Losing Game', this one still picks us up off our feet on the kitchen floor.

This wolf is no sheep's clothing. "Would we ever havе tied the knot?/Well, how long is a piece of string?" Ellie asks with classic couplets. Now if you're wondering if this album is chained to Alice's usual classics saving the day like Winston Wolf in 'Pulp Fiction' (word to Los Angeles Laker Marc Gasol), let me ask you. Does she have tea with the Mad Hatter? Does a wolf...I'm sorry, I mean a bear s### in the woods. Taste these 'Delicious Things' and you'll feel more substance behind the licks of a group in their zone. "Ask me where my home is, I say I don’t know it’s/Probably where the boy I love and left all on his own is/He rolls his eyes and cuts a selfish line of blow/He was here for one thing, if he can’t get it then he’ll go but/I don’t care, I’m in the Hollywood Hills/I’m no longer pulling pints, I’m no longer cashing tills/And I’m alive, I feel like Marilyn Monroe/If you are up poppin’ pills, you know I won’t say no", Ellie in storytelling style sings from the cash resisters to the dreams bank rolls can't buy. But it's 'Lipstick On The Glass' ("I take you back/Yeah, I know it seems surprising when there’s lipstick still on the glass/And the full moon rising but it’s me who makes myself mad/I take you.") that truly leaves a mark like a phone number on the mirror, written in Max Factor. Then they tell us we are 'Safe From Heartbreak', that is if open bracket, 'If You Never Fall In Love', point proven, closed bracket, case closed.  Wearily warning and scolding in scorn, "As weak as your wording/When you told me you're leaving/Like you don't have feelings/Safe from heartbreak if I never fall in love." Amen to that. This one knowing our punctuated pain is as real and raw as it gets. Rocking out Wolf still know how to 'Play The Greatest Hits' of their signature sound and independent style. They truly our 'Feeling Themselves' on the form of their life safe at home, reaping what they've sowed in the formidable foundations they have made. Even if, "He's had so many lovers/Don't mean he's been pleasing anyone/Doesn't matter 'bout numbers/When it's breaking news that it takes two to love/I was always taught to give/Give and make it good/Just as misunderstood as him/'Cause that's no way to live/And that's no way to play the game of love." But in returning to the shores since their definitive number of 2017 this animal with a human heart returns to the shores for the closing reprise of 'The Beach II' like sunset on the tide. "I sip my wine from a plastic cup/Throw stones in to another/While the sun heats up my liquid rose/And it shines the same fine colour/The tide comes in, as it must go out/Consistent like the laughter/Of the girls on the beach/My girls on the beach/Happy ever after." Every sequel deserves a classic and how about this 'Weekend'? Finally free like Alice from the Wolf, we can live for the weekend once again. Blue, no more. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'The Last Man On Earth', 'Smile', 'The Beach'.

REVIEW: JAPANESE BREAKFAST-JUBILEE

 

4/5

Seoul Food.

Breakfast can't wait, unlike what Prince once said riffing off Dave Chappelle serving pancakes in ruffles ("would you guys like some grapes?"). We need our most important album of the year like we need our most important meal of the day. A Japanese one typically consists of fish, rice, miso soup and one tablespoon of soy and sake each. Unless you go to traditonal Kanazawa, like this writer actually living in Japan who has an almost allergic adverse reaction to seafood did this Valentine's Day, were its more fish than you could literally cast a net at. But this Japanese Breakfast we're talking about is an American citizen, born in Seoul, South Korea forming their own band like Justin Vernon's Bon Iver with shades of Björk meets Best Coast. But this isn't one man. This is the icon in waiting, Michelle Zauner with her own solo alias power. The Little Big League Star playing with those Phillies struck her own home run with the 'Psychopomp' family album. A definitive debut, 25 minutes of lo-fi dream pop from the indie star. No emo. Coming home to Eugene, Oregon to record this album under her new name, a juxtaposition of Asian exoticism and American culture. She sophomore followed this with 'Soft Sounds From Another Planet', confirming her other-worldly sonic style, no slump. Its almost been a half decade since she followed up her debut with another album a year later and here's to the most anticipated one of this one in what just may be her calendar. Now it's time for the 'Jubilee'...in orange. But you only need to look through it to see that this is anything but low hanging fruit for this mellow yellow cover. Zauner has even put out a moving memoir this April in the New Yorker article to New York Times bestseller, 'Crying In H Mart'. Starting the year off right. Now how's that for some breakfast?

Tears For Fears cover. There's nothing this experimental pop star with a 'Crying' Bumper sticker can do 'Head Over Heels' as she rules this mad world. Woman in chains? Yeah right! More like 'Posing In Bondage' in a supermarket right near the fruit and veg for a maverick music video. Can I get a price check? All before the prequel of a 'Savage Good Boy' in all its blood lust that cleans up like aisle 3. And just to think the first single off this big-three for the album was called 'Be Sweet'. "So come and get your woman (Comе and get your woman), pacify her rage (Pacify her rage)/Take the time to undo your lies, make it up once more with feeling/Recognize your mistakes and I'll let you back in/Realize not too late, loved you always", she sings sweetly. But it's the opening 'Paprika' sharing its name with a legendary Japanese anime (2006) (that Christopher Nolan's 'Inception' (2010) as inspired as it was, shamefully ripped off...or at least owes a cheque and credit too), that has real spice. Its awesome, atmospheric beginnings are awe-inspiring. Inspired instrumentation for a curtain that unveils this is her time. On 'Kokomo, IN' with a Iver influenced title, Zauner finds herself in another state. All before she comes in for a 'Slide Tackle' like a right back singing, "I want to be good/I want to navigate this hate in my heart/Somewhere better/I want to feel it/But with the feel there is an ache I meet/To desire living", on this left turn. However leave it to 'Posing In Bondage', "hoping you come soon" to really crack the whip and sounds so smart than most pop these days that let's face it leaves our ears in need of a safe word. Mines, "I'm just not that big a fan of Ed Sheeran." 

Korean, but K Pop this epic, experimental one is not. With all due respect to the biggest boy and girl bands in the world, juggernauts BTS and Blackpink! This is deeper like KATIE and 'Our Time Is Blue' for your extended play. And 'Jubilee' drives it home. On 'Sit' Breakfast claims her place at the table. "Hear my name in your mouth and I'm done for" Japanese sings on the most beautiful song you'll hear about sitting on your face down there. "It's your name in my mouth I'm repeating/It's the taste on my tongue I can't spit out". "I want to be your man", Michelle sings in this "necessary strain" during the planetary pandemic. Adding, "I've got a five year plan/I've got a pension and six condos/A billion dollar bunker for two/And when the city's underwater/I will wine and dine you in the hollows/On a surplus of freeze dried food." Now the only thing that sounds more romantic in this brave new world of 1Q84 and 'Memory Police' than that is the chorus nostalic of classic love odes of old. "When everybody’s gone/Want you to be the one that I come home to/The one that’s up waiting." Pure and simple. Perfect and sweet. Just like real, true love without question that needs none. 'In Hell' takes us further down into her Fahrenheit 451 burning fire sound that flickers subtlety like a lantern. Whilst the mellow 'Tactics' lulls you into the sense of security that all sounds good these days in music and the world. Even if we know that not to be true. We can lose ourselves for a half hour or two as we put this 37 minute and change album on repeat into the night. Shuffling through her catalogue like a department store one on our coffee table. But this grand design has so much more substance than writing as lazy as feet up, or that reference. Just like 'Posing For Cars'. The rear view closer that takes us closer. Harmonising, "woke from a dream in which you'd left me/Posing for cars on the American stoop/Don't make me beg you just because you can/I'm just a women with a loneliness/I'm just a woman with needs", over acoustics in focus. Open, heartfelt and honest, before an epic end for the best solo record since Phoebe Bridges' 'Kyoto' leading punishing classic from last years 2020 of 'Women In Music' like the album of the year from the Valley Girl sisters of Haim. Now in a time were we must Stop Asian Hate here is a born star flowering that is going to lead the way for more Asian American artists to follow in her footsteps. Marching on in this 'Jubilee' and celebration of reign. In all its emancipation and restoration. This is an event. "Things have gotten quite real", Michelle tweeted with a photo of her new album serving as an electric billboard in the entertainment core of the work, New York's Times Square like the 20th anniversary of hometown hero Alica Keys' 'Songs In A Minor' (AK20 baby!). Lighting it up at midnight like New Year. Here's to her. Her story and history. Jubilation. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Savage Good Boy', 'Posing In Bondage', 'Paprika'. 

REVIEW: DMX - EXODUS

 

4/5

...And Then There Was Exodus.

The Grand Champ is here! Posthumously for a fitting finale. Get it on the floor one more time...because X is gonna give it to ya. Where the hood at? This will make you lose your mind. Up in here we live in a society were we don't let the dead rest for long. It was mere moments after the great purple reign of Prince ended that they were at it. Breaking into his vault of unreleased gems. But now seems as fitting a time as any to release the 'Exodus' that the late, great DMX was working on. X left us last month and a legacy of powerful hard more hip-hop that is passion personified for all the heads that nod to his one mic, vest and chain. The kind that could never keep this dog on a leash. Whose bark had real bite. Sure, when you think of Russell Simmons rap empire of Def Jam, you think of LL Cool J. "Ask Russell who built The West Wing" Todd Smith beautifully boasts on 'The DEFinition' of the Timbaland to old-school throwback 'Feel The Beat'. But X took those same towers that LL built and crashed through the ceilings. Keeping the light on, putting them on his shoulders when he released two multi-platinum classics ('It's Dark and Hell is Hot' and 'Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood') to debut in THE SAME YEAR! Taking them even skyscraper higher. Truly rocking the bells. Rocafella Jay-Z may have made Glastonbury his Oasis, but what rapper do you know "STOP, DROP" rocked Woodstock like everytime Snoopy's kennel was hit by a Charlie Brown fly ball, quite like D? Run-D.M.C. May have rocked with the acid twins of Aerosmith as they walked this way, but DMX once rapped with Limp Bizkit ("bark that s###"), not to mention Ozzy Osborne AND the late, great ODB...on a 'South Park' song for a 'Chef Aid' soundtrack. Competition...there ain't nowhere to run. '...And Then There Was X', 'The Great Depression', 'Grand Champ', 'Year Of The Dog...Again', 'Undisputed' and now the eight wonder of 'Exodus' tattooed on his neck like 1:7 above his silver chain as iconic as Michael Jordan's gold necklace. You can't mess with the Ruff Ryder's discography for his legendary legacy that has sold 74 million albums worldwide. Now how about some more? 

'That's My Dog' like the Swizz Beatz produced prolific opener that's classic D as X's canine growls serve as the beat. Nuanced and nostalgic right off D-Block, The LOX of Jadakiss, Styles P and the Silverback Gorilla, Sheek Louch (thanks for the Cameo's) take the first three 16's, before the dog takes the holy trinity with the last verse. "I ain't your father that shoulda stayed, too late, you shoulda prayed/You ain't know, motherf#####? I'm from the home of the brave/Where we played in the mountains 'cause we lived in the cave/When I came into the game, I crashed with a wave/I'm the best, it's somethin' that I'm takin' to the grave." DAMN! Cradle to the grave, he buried them all. Then the Black Republican's of Jay-Z and Nas reunite like success for the 'Bath Salts' of a former bubbling beef that now soothes in synchronised sound of three golden era greats forming a big-three like when King James went to Miami like Will Smith. "I'm the King of Zamunda, uh, King of the Summer/Come be my Kardashian, queen of the come up, uh/To be loved, Shakespearean/Experience to be us/Jumpin' off boats, hoppin' off another cliff (Woo!)/Every six months, I think I need a new bucket list (Oh!)," Jay raps like he never took all those years off and how we wish upon a star for a new Hov album. All before the Belly of Nas replies like a beast, "Ha, let's put success to the side/I'd still be this fly if I worked at Popeye's/That's a whole lotta spinach, whole game full of gimmicks/Make a fool out of yourself for a post on Akademiks/We are not the same, I am a alien/Hovering over your city, shutting down all the stadiums/Wiping out everything in my radius/Don't play with us, y'all ain't made enough." And then there's X, "Start applying the pressure, give a dog a bone/I'm taking half, it's just that simple/Or I can start poppin' n####s like pimples/I'ma let you call it, you ballin'/'Til you get hit with them hot things, now you're staggerin' and fallin'". It hasn't been this much Murda since Jay and D ruled with Ja. Now who let the 'Dogs Out' with a crack collaboration with another Carter, Lil' Wayne? Swizz Beatz that's who! Who right after 'Money, Money, Money' with more cash in Moneybagg Yo, brings Alicia Keys for a long awaited collabo in 'Hold Me Down'. The most beautiful track on this 'Exodus' for a Romeo who has finally come back in one piece to Queen Aaliyah.

U2 can get it too as Bono assists on the acoustic 'Skyscrapers' that takes this rappers range higher than the clouds as X marks the spot up there like a helicopter pad. "Reach for the sky", you'll find the best like X there. 'Hood Blues' is a classic posse cut storyteller from the man who used to work as many wonders like this as he did deals with the devil ('Damien') or powerful prayers to God for a man who was 'Ready To Meet Him' from the Far East string beginnings of the King of New York from Yonkers. The first Def Jam from the 'Grand Champ' since 2003 sounds like classic Simmons. How's it going down? Well, how about dog for dog as the Snoop Dogg bone sharing 'Take Control' samples Motown's very own Marvin Gaye for some real hood 'Sexual Healing'. When you get that feeling, I can tell you this is the cut that will take control when you need some lovin'. Wake up, wake up, wake up. Get up, get up, get up. 'Walking In The Rain' with Nas talking about Denzel Washington playing him in a movie with CG is the Def pairs real 'Belly' reunion and the best walk on water since Earl told you he was 'Slippin'' as he gets up here ("Look here, I grew up with the thing, hard living/Found out the source of the pain God givin'/He left me with no shelter in the rain/But I learned to stay dry, so it wasn't in vain/Every time you go through somethin', there's somethin' to gain/And you only truly suffer if you remain the same (Come on).") . That is until in his exit he writes a 'Letter To My Son' with Usher ("I can't give you yesterday, but I can learn from my mistakes") and Brian King Joseph and then puts his hand together for one, last storied 'Prayer' that will move even more than a Kanye West Sunday service. In the name of Jesus, "may we be heard and understood, from the suburbs to the good." Amen. Here's to a hip hop founding father. Devoting, "Dear son, I look in your eyes, I see my own/You look in my eyes, you see my throne/As many times I tried to talk to you, explain to you/See it didn't mean a thing to you/Love you, but right now I wanna bite you/I wanna give you a hug, but I might bite you/Be a man about it, we can admit when we're wrong," with powerful poignancy. And for anyone going through it with their old man, or youngest...pick up the phone. Because you never know. It all seems like not that long ago. Memories of Shaq, the late, great, still can't believe he's gone too, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers jumping around and singing "y'all gon' make me lose my mind" to DMX's 'Party Up' anthem, raining champagne in the Philly locker room after winning the 2001 Finals. College years. I was insecure. Laced with anxiety. Didn't know my place. Then my best man George Garner introduced me to rap whose rhythm I owe my writing career to. It lit a fire under me. He did. He wouldn't let me leave the record store without buying DMX's albums. Purpose. Rest peacefully Earl Simmons. The passion of hip-hop. The soundtrack to our coming of age. The true definition of someone who kept it real. A street poet who honoured God in his work. Thank you for the memories. Here's to one last one. A classic cover of black and white album artwork, this is the perfect portrait. Named after and just like his son or the interlude of beautiful family memories, Earl Simmons' Exodus forever is a father's legacy left in his wake. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'That's My Dog (Feat. The LOX and Swizz Beatz)' , 'Bath Salts (Feat. Jay-Z and Nas)', 'Hold Me Down (Feat. Alicia Keys)'.