4/5
Past Is Prelude
Enter the labyrinth, like Bowie, of Timothy Lee McKenzie's world of sound and vision, and you'll see more than a man who set off an 'Earthquake' up in here on the 'Electronic Earth' of his debut album, after backing the best U.K. rapper at the time, Tinie Tempah's 'Frisky' and 'Pass Out'. Labrinth went on to score more collaborative classics ('Beneath Your Beautiful' with Emeli Sandé). All before his career went nuclear and was sealed seven years after his dynamite debut. In 2019, not only did he release his stunning sophomore set 'Imagination & The Misfit Kid', on his way to being the day and night Cudi of the U.K., he also formed an LSD supergroup with sensational singer Sia and prolific producer Diplo. And if that wasn't enough, he also scored the soundtrack to the epic 'Euphora' series on HBO, starring fellow first-name terms, Zendaya, crashing Coachella last year to perform songs off the second season soundtrack. Labrinth also got back in the lab for that, all before giving us the 'Ends & Begins' of his last album.
Now, fresh out of 'The Kitchen' soundtrack for Netflix, one of the hardest working and most in-demand artists around has even more heat with his new 'Prelude' EP that promises more this New Music Friday. On the same day that Nine-Inch Nails hammer down their new 'Daft Punk' replacing soundtrack for 'Tron: Ares', Labrinth gets cinematic too, even more compellingly so. Eight wonders of sonic tracks that track the mind and all the dark depths and new paths forged ahead. After a distorted 'Sophisticated People' into that doesn't let you in, Tim 'Pull(s) Me In' with exactly that track. This pink Cosmic Opera House record in Roman Numerals then gives us the ultimate 'Pick Me Up', singing "oh no" over operatic grand gestures of sound. It's a 'Joy' to behold, like the next number you'll be singing until the heavens open up with snow this Christmas over stirring stings. That inspired interlude is then followed by 'Can't Cure This' where Labrinth warns us, "stupid motherf#####/money can't solve this/people talking s###/money can't cure this". Repeating what sounds like the halfway house of "bank" and "pain." Like it's one and the same. It is.
It's a 'Wonder' we can go on, until another instrumental is exactly that in lifting us up to a better place. It feels like it's taking you to another dimension in this sonic space. All the way to a 'House On The Hill', like a Springsteen mansion. This dance number feels euphoric, and we intended to say exactly that. You can find this record spinning under the lonely nights of a 'Euphoria' nightclub, neon exposing all the darkness. "Take me where the sun don't grind/ I'm gonna set your night on fire/I'm gonna bring you all to life/Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah". This is the 'Moment Of Peace' you all need in release and closing. "Hey, how you doing? This is Labrinth. I wrote this piece of music to help calm you down. So take a deep breath, close your eyes if you feel too, and allow yourself to drift into the moment. Breathe." What more can we say than that? He's doing it for us. The electronic earth still rotates around his beat. Is he a singer? Is he still a rapper? Nah, he's an artist. Watch him paint the perfect picture, because this is just a prelude, but a powerful one at that. Now go on and enjoy the rest of your day. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'The Joy', 'Can't Cure This', 'Moment Of Peace'
Spin This: Labrinth - 'Euphoria (Original Score From The HBO Series)'
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