Track Roundup: February

   

     Every Month I will seek to do a track roundup, either for one off singles from artists I like, or advance tracks from upcoming albums I'm interested in. This type of post won't necessarily mean I loved all these tracks, just that they were noteworthy enough to include.

     I'm still figuring all of this out and how I want to do things, but I know I want to keep at this. Doing makes me appreciate music so much more, and its just fun. So why not?

Joey Bada$$ - Thugz Cry

(Unattached Single on Pro Era)

   
      One track releases are commonplace for Joey Bada$$, and he mostly reserves his truly standout tracks for albums, or lead singles. "Thugz Cry" is an anomaly in this pattern, it is an expertly produced and fluent song which samples themes from Prince's classic "When Doves Cry".

     Joey has been dipping his toes in politics and conscious rap for a short time now, but at this point he seems to have found a good mix between the poignancy of his political messages and the catchiness of more popular songs. Being both extremely melodic and heartfelt, it is a wonderful way to start off the year for one of the most promising young rappers around.

Voices - Dead Feelings

(Advance track from Frightened: April 27th on Spinefarm Records)

     Voices are an enigmatic band to say the least, they are composed of almost entirely current or former members of Akercocke (previously mentioned in my "Best of 2017" lists) and that influence shows.

     Their music is bizarre, heaviness is mixed with melody and serenity expertly, their 2014 album London is one of my favourite albums of this decade. Coming back strong with this track, along with another beautiful track from the tail end of 2017 "Petrograph", this song is a very weird blend of metal with post-rock and darkwave, and they've spoken about how Goth influenced the album will be. Colour me excited.

Mournful Congregation - Scripture of Exaltation and Punishment

(Advance track from The Incubus of Karma: March 23rd on Osmose Productions)

     Australia's Mournful Congregation have been producing their crushing brand of Funeral Doom Metal since 1993, and they've honed their craft expertly. With this being their first album since 2011's acclaimed The Book of Kings, they have a lot to answer for.

     The first thing that struck me and excited about this track is how expertly it is produced, for this type of music having every strike of the drum and dissonant guitar chord punch through as powerfully as it can is very important, and the mix is perfectly balanced here.

     Mournful Congregation have a couple expert guitarists, and it shows throughout the 14 minute run time of this song, over half of which is both guitarists soloing off each other beautifully, and it never gets boring. The last two and a half minutes are why I love Mournful Congregation, the track opens up beautifully to faster drums, acoustic guitars and a full male choir, to fade out to a clean guitar passage with very airy synths in the back.

Parkway Drive - Wishing Wells

(Single from upcoming unnamed release on Epitaph Records)

      This band really lost my attention after their last album IRE, it was a very odd poppy and mainstream departure from their last albums, and I was prepared to just accept that I didn't like them anymore. This anecdote is a testament to how powerful this track is, it was released two days ago and they've already gained back my faith.

      The lyrics colour a study of grief, specifically the stage of anger. Vocalist Winston McCall is the star of this track, moving from a spoken word whisper to cracking screams. Musically this song is very simple, but very effective. It is all in complement to the power of the vocal delivery.

Ihsahn - Arcana Imperii

(Advance track from AMR: May 4th on Candlelight Records)

     Former Emperor frontman has moved far away from that band's traditional Black Metal roots. For over ten years, and in all of his solo efforts he has been crafting a very progressive sound, every album he has released has left fans guessing what it might be like, or even if they will like it at all. Usually the singles he releases in anticipation of his albums are a good tell of what the album may be like, it sounds like with "Arcana Imperii" he is returning slightly to form.

     "Arcana Imperii" is a very melodic song, and very single material but that is not necessarily a bad thing, Ihsahn's voice is most palatable now when he is singing anyway, his harsh vocals have lost quite a bit of punch from his Emperor days but he is still powerful. While I do like the song, I'm left cautiously optimistic for AMR.

Frank Ocean - Moon River

(Unattached Single)

     Okay, I do like Frank Ocean. But he is very frustrating to me, I did not like either of his last albums Blonde and Endless, a singer as talented as Frank Ocean deserves to be heard more, and after waiting 5 or so years for any material from him it would be nice if he were on his own album more.

     One of the biggest problems I had with Blonde is present on the first few seconds of this track, the chipmunk voice. Why? It's so present on Blonde, and I was hoping it was just a stylistic choice for the album. This song is a cover of a Henry Mancini song made for Breakfast at Tiffany's, and previously covered by both Frank Sinatra and Andy Williams. This song has a famous history, and I think Frank Ocean could have done a much better version of this than he did.

Flatbush Zombies - HEADSTONE

(Advance track from Vacation in Hell: April 6th on Glorious Dead Recordings)

     The most talented Rap trio today are Flatbush Zombies, unquestionably. Hailing from Flatbush, New York the trio have been channelling the dark mood and atmosphere of a lot of 90's hip hop for a while now. Each one of them is extremely talented and a recognizable voice within their trio, "HEADSTONE" allows them to trade bars off each other, switch up flows and even sample 2pac.

     "Put your favourite Rapper's name up on a headstone... Too late, he already dead", is the line that is repeated often in this song. Flatbush Zombies are preparing to release Vacation in Hell in April, and they're not coming to play.\

Underoath - On My Teeth

(Advance track from Erase Me: April 6th on Fearless Records)

     We all thought Underoath broke up, we've thought that for 7 years. Even when they united for their reunion tour, there was no indication that they might be reforming in full. Well it's 2018 and crazier things are happening in the world than Underoath releasing a new album so that's okay. Despite this, "On My Teeth" is not a promising start to that album release cycle.

     There's nothing inherently wrong with this song, it's just very boring. Underoath are known for their diverse and chaotic post-hardcore, and this is not reminiscent of either of those facets. This is closer to hard rock than post-hardcore, and there is nothing wrong with that, but it is boring hard rock. None of Underoath sounds excited to be here, and the track is very formulaic. Hoping to be surprised by the album, but preparing myself to be underwhelmed.